Darkness
by WizardDemigodGladerGatekeeper
Summary: When he wakes up in the box, Aidan has no memory whatsoever, just like all the others to come up. There is one thing, that sets him apart though. Born without the gift of sight, Aidan must now rely completely on his friends, and help them in escaping the treacherous maze. But WICKED has no plans of making it easy for them.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey guys! First fanfic! I had been wanting to publish this from a very long time. This is my very first story, and I couldn't find a beta, so if there are any errors, my apologies in advance. I write to become a better writer, and there is no way to do that without your help. Please please please review and tell me what you think of this story. I also want to thank the people reading this for making their way through the ridiculous summary till the story. I really hope you enjoy this. I need to stop rambling and get on with the story**

**Disclaimer: I don't own TMR. The genius mind of James Dashner does. Though I wish I did, unfortunately, I don't. **

I gasped awake and shuffled around until my back hit the wall. No… not a wall, some sort of a wire mesh. I pounded against it. "HEY!"I screamed, "WHERE AM I?".

I continued to scream and pound against the mesh, when suddenly, a voice interrupted me.

"OI! Quit your yapping and sit down!"

I turned around, yet saw only darkness. I lobbed around with my hands to get a feel of my surroundings, and the voice came again.

"Dude, it's not that dark. You can see you know, some light's coming in from who-knows-where."

And then I remembered. It was so obvious, I was surprised I hadn't known earlier, though I suppose I had been too caught up in making sense of my surrounding to think about it. But now that the realization dawned on me, I sat down, disoriented.

"I can't."I replied, "I'm blind."

There was silence. The only sounds were of the engines as we went up. I'd figured out that much by now. My senses were sharp, very sharp. We were in some kind of elevator, heading straight up, the girl and I. The voice definitely belonged to a girl. We were surrounded by wooden boxes, and from a whiff and a crunch, I deduced that the girl was eating an apple.

Finally, the silence was too much to bear. "Say something. I can't stand total silence after total darkness." I requested the girl.

After a pause, she said "You scream like a chicken."

I cracked a smile, despite our situation, and slowly moved over to the source of the voice. I felt around with my hands for obstacles, and touching someone's leg. I immediately pulled back, heat rising up to my cheeks. "Sorry, I'm just trying to know where you are."

A hand patted my shoulder. "Chill mate, and look here. Screaming ain't gonna help no one. Trust me on that. I did it for an hour, before deciding it was useless. I then sat down and ate this marvelously delicious apple." She said with obvious sarcasm. She pushed a round fruit into my hands and said, "here. Calm your prissy throat and eat this."

I tentatively took a bite. I didn't know if it was safe to eat, but the girl seemed to have merrily been munching on it and was okay.

"What happened? What is this place?"

"Look bro, nothing much happened before you came round. I woke up about an hour and a half ago, panicked, then came to my senses and ate." She shifted, and I could hear the clinking of metal chain links. "Are you… chained?" I asked.

"Yep." She rattled the chain again and said, "Apparently the buggers who put us here, 'cause we obviously didn't jump in ourselves, thought I'd try something stupid and dangerous, so they took all the precaution."

"Uh… would you have tried something stupid and dangerous?"

"Duh."

I laughed, but quickly quieted down. "Fine then, what else?"

"That's it mate. After that, the only thing that happened was that I got to see you scream your little girly head off. It was pretty funny, no offense. That is, until it starting hurting my ears."

I realized suddenly, that being caught up in knowing the surroundings, I hadn't asked her name.

"What your name?"

"Hey, man, why do I gotta answer everything? What's yours?"

I thought for a second, then replied, "Aidan."

"Aidan, hmm… weird name." she said. "Why?" I asked, a little self conscious. "'Cause it seems familiar. Where you from?"

Now that she said it, I realized another obvious fact. Something that I shouldn't have missed. I didn't know where I was from. In fact, I didn't know anything about myself. I frantically searched for the answers in my brain, coming up with absolutely none.

The only thing I knew about myself was my name.

**A/N: So? Whaddya think of it? Should I continue? Should I not? Is it so bad that I should delete it? Please review! **


	2. Chapter 2- Aidan

**A/N:**

**Hey again! Here I am with the second chapter. I didn't want to leave ya'll hanging with that one, so I thought I'd post this today itself. Just an important thing I wanted to say, and please, don't kill me for this, but Chuck will not be in this story.**

**I KNOW! I HATE MYSELF FOR IT! But it was necessary, as my OC's are in place of Chuck. I'm really really really really sorry, but I couldn't help it.**

**Sorry again?**

**And if it wasn't obvious, I don't own TMR. James Dashner does. My brain can't think of such amazing things.**

**"**I don't know." I replied. I'd more or less been keeping my cool till now, but now I really was starting to panic. "WHY CAN'T I REMEMBER?" I yelled, though I knew that the chances of the girls having an answer were bleak.

"OI! Chill! We'll figure out why we've become major amnesiacs when we reach where we reach okay? There's no point in screaming."

I calmed down, considering the fact that she was right. "You still haven't told me your name." I asked, in an attempt to get our current hopeless situation out of mind.

"Lee."

"Well, nice to meet-" I was cut off by a lurch of the elevator, which threw me to the side. I heard the ominous sound of something crashing, followed closely by a startled cry. "Lee? LEE?" I yelled her name again and again, but got no response.

I felt my way over to her and touched her face. She seemed to be knocked out cold. I was about to try rousing her, when the elevator came to a sudden stop. It seems we had reached.

~.~.~.~.~

I could hear the ceiling crank open, though I couldn't tell whether it was daylight streaming in, or the gaze of the moon. My world after all, knew only darkness.

I heard people shuffling about before me, and a voice called down, "Climb out greenie."

I didn't want to seem helpless in front of unknown people, but there was no way I could climb out without breaking a bone or two. I cleared my throat and said, " I can't. I'm blind. I can't see anything much less climb m way out."

Total silence greeted me again.

"Dude, that's…." someone started. I gritted my teeth. I didn't appreciate sympathy. "Just get me out of here."

"Newt, Thomas, get in there and bring the greenie out!" a commanding voice said. I could tell from the tone of his voice that he was the leader, and my guess was confirmed when two people jumped in, following his orders.

The people who had jumped in started guiding me out, when one of them stopped. "What the…?" he asked, puzzled. His voice was thickly layered with a strange accent. "What is it Newt? What else is there?" the leader asked.

The boy – Newt- hesitated, then spoke in a bewildered manner, " It's a… girl."

My mind snapped back to Lee. I'd almost forgotten about her, but now I felt like saying something, especially because Newt spoke as though Lee was an alien, who'd dropped out from space. "Yeah," I said, " She came up with me. Her name's Lee. Mine's Aidan."

There was an outburst of talking above us, but the leader hushed them all. "QUIET! All you shanks, shut your faces. Newt, pull the greenie out. Thomas, help the girl."

Newt put my hand around his neck helped me into some kind of loop. It was made of scratchy rope, but seemed strong enough to support my weight. I was slowly pulled up. Strong hands grabbed me and yanked me out of the elevator, onto grass. A soft breeze brushed my face. It felt good to be out after the suffocating atmosphere of the elevator. I heard the thud of someone being dumped beside me. Lee.

A disgruntled groan escaped her. A few splashes of water hit her face and she spluttered awake. Yelling like Tarzan, she started struggling against them. "Lee stop!" I yelled, aware of the fact that she would do something that would not be good for her, "I don't think they're gonna hurt us mate, calm down."

_Hopefully_, I thought.

She immediately quieted down. "oh!" she said, " well then, hello brothers!"

I could feel the people standing speechless. Lee didn't wait for a reaction. "Hey, where are the girls?" she asked suspiciously.

"There aren't any, you're the first one. Ever…" someone, Thomas, if I wasn't wrong, spoke up.

"Oh." Lee suddenly didn't seem so full of energy anymore.

"We don't know what to do with you, honestly speaking. We've never had a girl before, and we don't know what you might do. There really is just one thing to do." The leader said, "lock her up in the slammer."

"HEY! Man, I didn't do anything! You can't lock me up for being a girl, and the slammer don't sound too good!" she thrashed about and protested, and I realized that the only person I even kind of knew was about to be locked up in god-knows-what. No way was I going to stand and watch that happen.

"HEY! " I yelled, "You can't lock her up. She didn't do anything. If you lock her up, you lock me up too." I stood my ground defiantly, but I knew that my protest was weak. These people might not hesitate before throwing me in the 'slammer' too. But to my surprise, Newt spoke up.

" He's right Alby. She didn't do anything. We shouldn't lock her up. And anyway, she's just a bloody kid. There's no shuck way she could hurt us."

"Oh yeah, I won't do nothing, I promise! I'm very nice!" Lee said, a bit too enthusiastically.

I could feel the leader pondering our statements, though I hadn't expected Newt to come to our defense. "Alright." He-Alby- finally said, " but one thing she does, which seems threatening, she's getting thrown off the cliff, I personally guarantee you."

"Great job Alby. Nice welcome speech you gave there. C'mon kid, let's get you some water." Newt said, putting a hand on my shoulder and guiding me somewhere.

Lee and I were led to some building called the 'homestead', as Thomas informed us. After giving us a warm glass of water, Newt sat down in front of us. I could tell by the shift of air. "First day greenies. Welcome to the glade brother," and after a short pause, he said, " and sister."

**A/N:**

**Please review and tell me what you think. The reviews really motivate me to write more. Oh, and I'm introducing another OC in the next chapter… just wanted to say that.**

**A fellow glader.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Well, I really wanted to post this chapter, because I know that its more exiting to read a story with many chapters to begin with. A new character is introduced in this chapter, and I'm sorry if its short. Oh and this chapter****IS NOT** **from Aidan's POV. And a big thank you to all those who are reading this right now.**

**Review please? *happy little smile***

**I**stood in front of the large screen, palms sweating, legs tapping nervously. The screen in front of me showed the on-goings of Group A. I would be heading there, in an hour or so.

The people on screen were going about their business, oblivious to what was happening outside their glade. I worked for WICKED. We had been sending subjects into the 'glade' as they called it, for two years now. And finally, it was my turn.

Teresa would have been in my place, but she fell drastically ill and was now in the hospital. So here I was, waiting to have my memory wiped, waiting to be sent into a place filled with fifty other boys, and one young girl.

I'd always anticipated this day, but now that it was here, I couldn't help but panic. I would lose my memory within the next three hours. I wouldn't remember my name, or anything else about myself. The only memory WICKED had agreed to let me keep was that of my brother, Matthew. He's been the most recent to go, along with his best friend, Alexis.

I peered at the screen, spotting both of them instantly. Despite my state, I hid a smile. My brother's adorable face was almost enough to cheer me up. At three years younger than me, he was a mere thirteen year old, with a cute boyish face, tousled blond hair, and green eyes. But it didn't matter how beautiful his eyes were, he'd never be able to see through them, being born blind.

My eyes drifted to another subject. He'd caught my eye the first time he'd gone up, and now he walked with a strange limp. I didn't remember how he'd gotten that, but it didn't matter now. I'd always admired how this one kept his cool during crisis.

I was so caught up in my thoughts, that I didn't see the woman in a gray uniform walk in. "Miss Hope LaFey, Chancellor Paige would like to see you now." She spoke in a crisp formal manner.

I got up, and went into the room adjacent the one in which I had been sitting. This room was completely white, and so was the woman sitting at the centre of it. "Chancellor Paige." I said, nodding. I turned to the man sitting next to her, and scowled. "Jansen." I'd disliked him from the beginning, and the feeling hadn't changed in the tiniest since.

"Quiet Hope. We do not have much time. Before you go through the swipe, I would like to tell you a few things, though I am fully aware that you will not remember a word of it later on." She sighed and continued, " As you know, your name will be changed. Your brother, formerly called Matthew, is now known as Aidan. The name chosen for you is Kyra."

I kept my face blank, not willing to show an emotion. Kyra seemed like a nice name, but I'd always prefer Hope.

"You also know that you will be sent to group A. Your brother has already been sent up, along with Alexis Waters, now called Lee. However, unlike them, and all the others, you will be unconscious during the trip of the box. We suspect you will wake up at their infirmary, with your memory wiped clean. Also, we will merely leave the memory which allows you to recognize Aidan as your brother, with that name, not Matthew. Are you ready?"

_Does it matter?,_I thought, but I simply nodded. "Come right this way." Jansen escorted me to the room beside the one I was standing in now, sneering while doing so. I bit my lip in an attempt to not cuss.

Medical equipment lined the walls in this one. Before I could get a view of the whole room, though, I was led to a bed, and made to lie down. Jansen stood beside me, sneering worse than ever. "Don't mess this up LaFey." He said, " I won't make it easy for that brother of yours if you do."

Before I could retort, something was injected into my arm, and I could feel myself losing consciousness.

The last thing I remembered was the blinding light of the hospital room, before darkness sucked me in.

**A/N: So? Whaddya guys think of my new OC? I'm really sorry that I'm excluding Chuck and Teresa, but its essential to the story. I hope you can forgive me. *mentally slaps self for doing this***

**Please review and tell me what you think of Kyra!**

**Oh and I also edited this chapter and the ones before it. I'm extremely sorry for all the typo errors. I hope you can forgive me. I also hope I've gotten all of them…. **

**I'll try to make no errors from now on… I promise…**

**A fellow Glader.**


	4. Chapter 4-Kyra

**A/N: Hola mi amigos! Here's the fourth chapter of my story, and trust me, stuff's gonna start happening real soon. The story will stay the same, but will be from Aidan and Kyra's POV, not Thomas'. Reviews motivate me to go on, so please please please review! And once again, a big thank you to whoever's favourite-ed this, it means a lot to me, it really does. :')**

**Oh and one more thing. After a lot of debate in m mind, I decided to make Newt look like Thomas Brodie-Sangster.**

**Disclaimer:**

**I don't own TMR. I do own Aidan, Kyra, Lee and all my other OCs. The rest belongs to the great mind of James Dashner.**

I woke up shrieking and gasping, but I couldn't remember why. I was in a bed, with white sheets covering me. I tossed the covers around, screaming until my throat hurt, when suddenly, water splashed onto my face, effectively shutting me up.

A boy stood in the corner of the hut (that's what I assumed it was), holding an empty glass, a shocked expression on his face, pressing his back against the wall. My guess was that he'd gotten so surprised when I had woken up the way I had, that out of shock and desperation, he'd seen fit to splash water onto my face.

"What… how?" he stammered, then turned to the door and yelled, " Alby! Minho! Drag your buggin bottoms in here! The bloody greenie's awake!"

_Greenie?_that word seemed strangely foreign to me, but I had bigger things to worry about than vocabulary, at the moment.

"OI!" I yelled out. The boy to face me, as though he hadn't expected me to talk just yet. "Where in DEVIL'S name am I? Why can't I remember anything? ANSWER!"

He scowled at me. "Shut your hole greenie. We'll explain everything."

I wasn't about to wait around for answers with a strange boy, so I jumped out of bed in an attempt to get out. It failed miserably when the boy grabbed me from behind and shoved me back on to the bed. For someone who looked deprived of food, he was awfully strong. But of course, it mustn't have been very difficult, as I wasn't very big myself.

"Listen." His voice was suddenly calming and soft. " We'll explain everything. Just calm down alright? Patience."

Just then, a few people burst into the room, followed by a familiar face, one I hadn't expected to see here.

"Aidan!" I ran up to my brother and threw my arms around him. He felt my face, and grinned. "Kyra!"

He laughed and hugged me back.

The annoying boy cleared his throat, and spoke with that funny accent of his. "Hey!" I stepped away from Aidan and scowled at him. He ignored me and fixed his eyes on my brother. "How come the greenie recognizes ya?"

Aidan seemed uncertain, but he replied just as well, "I'm her brother."

This apparently was a new incident, because all of the others looked confused. "You remember something kid?" a dark skinned boy asked. He spoke with a note of authority, and seemed to be the leader of this place, whatever it was. "I don't remember anything. Just that she's my sister. Nothing else. I swear." Aidan said. The boy must've realized Aidan was telling the truth, because he nodded and said, "Fine. I believe you, kid." Aidan looked relieved, but I felt confused. "Wait, so that means I ain't the only one with no memory?" I looked around bewildered, "Will somebody do me the honor of explaining what the HELL is going on here?"

The dark-skinned boy stepped up to me, looking sympathetic. He was a few inches taller than me, and a few inches shorter than the other boys. He held out a hand, and I shook it. "I'm Alby" he said. I nodded, "Kyra."

"Kyra, I don't think I can explain our situation without taking you outside. Come outside, and I'll show you." He started towards the door, and I followed him.

When I stepped outside, I caught my breath. I stood in a place the size of several football fields, the ground made of green grass. To my left, a good twenty yards away, a jungle rose. People were milling about, doing their regular business. Some were working in the garden, some were simply walking around. Before I could take in everything, Alby spoke up again.

"This is the glade. That's our name for it. In a very brief introduction, I can tell you that we have several jobs here, that of slicers, med-jacks, track-hoes, runners, baggers, sloppers et cetera. You don't need to know everything at the moment." He took a deep breath and continued, " where you were kept, that's the homestead. To your left is the Jungle, and over there is our 'farm'" he said, making quotation marks in the air with his fingers. "now, as to how you got here, well, that's a bit more complicated." He looked at me, and I nodded, to show that I was following.

"Every month, a new kid is sent up. We call 'em greennies. This month, that was Thomas. We all came up the same way. No memory, none whatsoever. We organized ourselves, and set up our little home. We grow our own food, we build our own shelter. This," he swept a hand in an arc, gesturing towards the entire glade, " is all we have. We worked hard for it."

"However, now things are different. Usually we get one greenie a month, but this month, we get four greenies, in a week itself. It seems that the shuck Creators are getting desperate."

"Desperate? For what?" I asked.

Alby pointed to the walls, which surrounded the entire glade. Each wall was huge and towered over the glade. The surrounded the place in the form of a square, four walls, each with an opening that ran the entire length of the wall itself. I couldn't see outside, but I figured the reason for building walls this massive must not be good.

"Out there, is the Maze." Alby told me. I looked at him, unsure of what I'd heard. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me right. Out there, is a gigantic Maze, which apparently we're supposed to solve, in order to get home. At least, that's what we think."

"So, have you solved it?" I asked stupidly.

The blond boy laughed. "You think we'd be having this bloody conversation if we had?"

"We have been looking for solution for two years Kyra, and so far, we haven't found any. Every morning, when the doors open, the runner go out and look for a way, and every night, come back with nothing. But we haven't given up hope. We're still trying. And now we think the creators are getting impatient, and want us to solve this fast."

I soaked this up. I decided not to ask how, defying all laws of physics, perfectly stationary walls could close, because moving walls was the _least_bizarre thing about this place.

"So," I asked instead, "I suppose you're saying we're trapped here."

The third boy spoke this time, " Yeah. Pretty much. But we'll find a way out. I can bet any shuck thing on that." I turned to face him. He had well muscled arms, and looked Asian, with what seemed like a permanent smirk plastered to his face. "The name's Minho greenie. I'm keeper of the runners. We go out into the maze every day, looking for a way out. So far we haven't found one, but I know we'll find one soon. Then we can all go back to our homes and live happily ever after."

I doubted that was going to happen, but I stayed quiet, taking it all in. "Hey, Kyra, c'mon. We still gotta make you an official glader." The blond boy said. I raised my eyebrow at him. "And you are?"

"Newt." he shook my hand, then led me to an area of one of the huge walls. I looked closely, and realized names were etched onto the stone. But some names, unlike most others were crossed out. "What happened to those people?" I asked, pointing to one of the scratched out names. Newt's face darkened and he softly said, "We lost a lot of people Kyra." He looked at me, "but this?" he pointed to the wall, "This is all we have. It's our family."

I had no idea how to respond to that, so I simply nodded. I looked at Newt properly for the first time. He had warm brown eyes, and a nice smile. He was thin, but tall, easily a good five inches taller than me. His blond hair swept over his eyes, giving him a boyish look. He wasn't bad looking.

Minho handed me a dagger, and gestured towards the wall. I stepped up to it, and began etching my name onto the surface. When I was satisfied with my work, I stepped back. "ta da!"

Minho laughed, "Give the knife to your brother, while I go find Lee."

Aidan had been standing so quietly, that I'd almost forgotten he was there. I handed him the dagger, and he stood in front of the wall, feeling the surface with his palm, looking for an empty spot. His hand felt Newt's name, then mine, and he softly smiled. I hadn't realized I'd written my name right beside Newt's. Finally, he felt an empty spot, next to a certain 'Jeff', and began scratching his name. In spite of being blind, he wrote a beautiful 'AIDAN'.

"Ahoy mi amigos!" a girl ran up to us, tailed by Minho. She was cute, in a tomboy-ish way, with pixie-cut black hair and bright green eyes. Like Minho, she had a smirk on her features. In fact, if Minho hadn't been Asian, one could have mistaken them for siblings.

She took the dagger from Aidan, and studied it. "Fancy little blade you have there, bro."

Suddenly, her green eyes glazed over as if she'd entered a trance. She raised the dagger high, the blade glinting in the sunlight.

Then, without hesitation, she brought the dagger down hard on her own shoulder, blood splattering all over her brown shirt.

**A/N:**

**Wow. This is the longest chapter I've written so far. I'm really sorry if it's boring, but this was the introduction chapter. I'll try to start the action soon, but we need to let them get settled right? *weak little smile***

**I would really like to know what all of you guys think of my story, and all constructive criticism is perfectly welcome! Just please review and tell me what you think! It means a lot to me.**

**I also wanted to put a little fact out there. I got the idea for the story from 'Memories With Chaos' by TheLittleFirefly, which is a really good story, so you guys can read that too. I'm sorry if this chapter was boring, but I'll try to make things right as the story progresses.**

**Gracias!**

**A fellow glader.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hey again! I really want to apologize for all those stupid typo errors… I'll seriously try my best not to make them anymore. Also, please drop a review telling me how I can improve my writing, because that scope is large. I want to become a better writer, and for that, I need your help. And the biggest thank you I can muster, to all those who were kind enough to read my story. I really get motivated seeing all the views. :) **

**Dis.: I don't own TMR.**

**(Wow, I got really lazy with that eh?)**

Kyra:

I heard someone screaming. Then I realized that it was probably me. But I couldn't help it. Seeing Lee stab herself out of the blue came as a shock. She didn't stop though. She raised the knife again, and buried it deep in her forearm, then twisted it. All this time, she showed no reaction, as if she felt nothing. She raked the knife across her arm, and that jolted us out of our shock.

"LEE!" Newt yelled. He leapt forward to grab her, but she lashed out at him with her knife. "Lee, what the bloody hell is wrong with you?" He tried dodging her dagger, but she was good. She swung the weapon towards him, but I managed to pull him back in the nick of time. The knife slashed the air of the place in which he'd been standing. "Lee?" Aidan called out. He rushed forward, but was held back by Minho. That was a good idea, as he would probably have gotten himself killed.

Lee didn't seem to want to hurt anyone but herself though. She slashed the knife across her stomach, not badly enough to kill her, but enough to send a new spurge of blood forward. By now, she was desperately losing blood. She would die of blood loss if someone didn't stop her. Minho and Newt stepped forward, cautious. Lee swung the dagger at Newt, giving Minho a chance to slip behind her. He tackled her, sending her sprawling on the floor. Lee may have been good with the knife, but Minho overpowered her in brute force. He pinned her down, and Newt took this opportunity to wrench the knife out of her hands. What surprised me though, was that she didn't struggle one bit, as the two of them disarmed her.

"MED-JACKS!" Newt yelled, and almost immediately two boys ran over, carrying a crudely made stretcher. Together, Minho and I placed Lee on the stretcher, and watched the boys carry her towards the homestead. Minho sat down, catching his breath. "What the HELL just happened here?" Newt asked, clearly disoriented from this ordeal. I shook my head. "I don't know, but I know for sure that Lee didn't do all that. She was in some kind of trance. Did you guys notice her eyes?" I asked.

Newt nodded, "Glazed over."

Minho opened his mouth to speak, when another scream rang through the glade.

"Oh, NOW WHAT!?" Minho yelled, exasperated. Alby appeared at the edge of the forest (I hadn't noticed him leaving our group, but if he had, he must have left before Lee went into her attack mode), dragging a limp body behind him. A boy lumbered out after them, clearly injured; his hair looked like he'd been in a cyclone, and there were bruises all over his face. Alby yelled at two boys, who immediately took the limp boy from him and dragged him off in the direction of the homestead.

"What happened?" Newt asked, running over. The rest of us followed him. "It was Ben. He attacked Thomas." Alby looked sullen. "His condition is a LOT worse than we thought. " He eyed Minho's shirt, which was covered in Lee's blood, "Wait a minute…" He looked up at us, scowling. "Explain."

"It was Lee." Minho spoke up, "Don't worry, it's not my blood. Lee took the dagger to write her name on the wall, but then she entered some sort of trance, and stabbed herself on the shoulder. She didn't stop though. She kept stabbing at herself. Finally Newt and I managed to stop her."

"She didn't do it on purpose! I can vouch for that!" Aidan yelled, clearly trying to prove Lee innocent, even though there was no need for that. Newt put a hand on his shoulder. "We know kid. I saw her; she was being controlled by something, maybe even some_one_. And I may not have known her for very long, but I know for a fact that Lee would do no such thing."

"And she didn't even scream when she stabbed herself. Clear indication that she wasn't doing it herself." I bluttered out, before realizing that my opinion probably wasn't welcome. To my surprise though, Alby nodded. "I agree. If she stabbed herself the way you guys described it, she probably didn't do it-" The boy, Thomas, I assumed, cut him off. "WHERE IS SHE?" he yelled at Newt, grabbing his collar.

"Calm down Tommy!" he pried Thomas' hands off of him, " The med-jacks are taking care of her."

Thomas started to run off, but Alby held him back. "No, let the med-jacks do their job. If you go in and start hollering, it'll disturb them. We'll go see her later when she's normal."

_If she makes it, _I thought. Lee had lost a lot of blood. I had my doubts about her living to see the next day, but seeing Thomas' face lose all of its color, I decided to keep shut.

~.~.~.~.

**Aidan:**

I was worried out of my mind for Lee. I could tell her situation was very bad, from the amount of blood I smelt on Minho and Newt. I didn't say anything though, just sat down on a rock and tried to keep my cool. The atmosphere had gone from cheerful to filled-with-tension-and-worry in a matter of minutes. I knew Lee would make it; the med-jacks were good. The only worry on my mind was that if something could control her once, could it happen again? And if it did, how much worse would Lee's situation be then?

"What about Ben?" Newt asked.

"You know what's gonna happen Newt. Don't ask dumb questions and piss me off." Alby retorted. He stomped off, followed by the footsteps of someone who limped. Newt.

"I just realized you two haven't officially met. Thomas, this is Kyra. Kyra, Thomas." Minho said. Both of them muttered half-hearted greetings. "Thomas, take Kyra to the washrooms, tell her to freshen up." Minho added. Kyra patted my shoulder and headed off with Thomas, the sound of their footsteps growing faint.

There was a moment of silence between Minho and I, but I broke it.

"How come you didn't go to the maze today?"

"I told Alby that I wanted to stay and see if the girl woke up. He allowed this for today. I'm going to meet up with the other runners a while from now, see the maps, discuss them, the usual." He sounded tired, as if he'd gone through this same thing a hundred times, although given the fact that he'd been a runner for two years, I suppose he had.

"What's gonna happen to Ben? That's who Alby dragged out of the jungle, right?"

Minho grunted. "You're smart, kid." I ignored the compliment, waiting for him to go on. I heard a sigh escape him. "He's going to be banished."

That word didn't sound too good. "What do you mean, 'banished'?"

"We banish people like Ben into the maze." The realization hit me, and I couldn't help but feel sorry for Ben. I never got to know him, but no one deserved to be sent out into the maze for the whole night. From whatever stories I'd heard of the maze, I could easily conclude it wasn't the safest place to be.

Right then, another horrible thought occurred to me, which pushed Ben out of my mind. I turned to Minho, who'd sat down beside me and asked, my voice urgent, "Are you going to banish Lee as well?" I didn't wait for him to respond, "I swear, she didn't do it on purpose. Lee's not like that! And you all were there! Kyra told me she was being controlled. Minho, please, you can't banish Lee, she hasn't done anything!" Minho laughed and patted my back.

"Don't worry, kid. We won't banish her. I saw her, and I know what happened. Alby believes us too, I can tell. All you need to worry about right now is how she's going to be, what with all that blood out of her system."

~.~.~.~

**Aidan:**

An hour later, we all stood outside the infirmary door, waiting for any news on Lee. I started biting my nails out of nervousness, when I heard the door open. We all rushed the person who'd gotten out.

"How is she now, Jeff?" Newt asked. I heard Jeff clear his throat before speaking, "She's strong. She made it. She lost a great deal of blood, and to be honest, even I didn't think she'd make it. But the shank pulled through."

I exhaled a sigh of relief. "Is she awake?"Thomas asked.

"Yeah, you can go meet her. But be careful. She's still a little weak. And she's in pain, though she isn't showing that."

I pushed open the door, and let Kyra lead me over to where Lee was. I could hear everyone dragging chairs over to the bed. Kyra gently pushed me down onto one. I reached out and felt Lee's face, then slapped her right across it. Not hard, just enough to let her know what I'd gone through.

"Ow! Mate, what in the holy shuck was that for?" it felt good to hear her voice again, and I heard Newt laugh. Minho had left to see the other runners, promising to come check on Lee as soon as possible. Thomas had stayed near the door of the infirmary from the start, and he had soon been joined by Alby, Newt, Kyra and I.

"That's for all the worry you caused us." I said, trying to sound mad, but it was difficult to stay mad at Lee.

"Guys, I swear, I had no idea what I was doing, I didn't even know I stabbed myself. I blacked out the moment Aidan handed me the dagger. It was as if something else had taken over my brain, and was controlling my body. I struggled against it, and finally, after a sudden jolt, the control wavered. I sort of took over from the thing, whatever it was, then. Look, i may be crazy, but trust me. Even I ain't _that _crazy."

"We know all this Lee. We saw you. We know it wasn't you. The question, however, is if it wasn't you, what was it?" Newt asked, from beside me.

"Maybe it was the creators." Thomas spoke from somewhere near the other side of the bed. "Maybe they somehow controlled Lee long enough to make her stab herself, but when Minho tackled her, she was able to take that control back."

We sat in silence, thinking over what he'd said, then Newt said what was on all of our minds. "It makes sense Tommy, I'll give you that. But it bloody ain't a cheerful thought."

Before anyone could respond to Newt's statement, someone's hurried footsteps came through the door. "How's… never mind" Minho sounded out of breath. "I came right here after seeing the maps for today. Clint told me she was better, but I had to make sure for myself."

An idea struck me, and it must've occurred to Lee as well, because we said the same thing at once, "Can I see the map?"

I felt heat rise to my face. "Well, can I um… have it?" since I very well couldn't 'see' it. I could feel Minho's hesitation, but he handed the map to me and said, "Al right kid, but no one, no one at all gets to know okay?"

"Is Alby alright with this?" I asked, not wishing to go against the wishes of the leader. "Yeah, but listen to what Minho said." Alby replied.

I unfolded the piece of paper, running my fingertips over it, feeling the impression of the pencil on the paper. I could mentally piece together a picture, and there was one thing in the whole that stood out as odd. I opened my mouth to speak, but Lee said, "I know. I see it too."

"What?" I heard Newt ask.

"This section of the map, it's different. When you told me about the maze, you said every wall moves, changing the entire maze, one section at a time." I said, pointing to the odd spot.

"Well," Lee continued my statement for me, " No matter how the walls move in this part, they won't ever seal off this opening." She paused for a while then said, "The first day I came here, you said you'd throw me off the cliff right?"

"I don't remember saying it like that." Alby said. "It doesn't matter." I said, "The cliff must be something that stays open all the time, if you can throw someone over it any time you want." I tapped the area.

"That's the cliff."

**A/N: Well! I think I just broke my record of the longest chapter! I want to apologize for the late update, and also for the long, boring chapter. Please tell me what you think of it! Does it need more action? Friendship? Fluff? Well, I admit that I royally STINK at writing fluff. My apologies, but I really can't write lovey dovey things. But please tell me what you think! And I'll try to write better, taking your suggestions.**

**I hope you like my story! **

**A fellow glader.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: HEYY! OHMYGOSH I CROSSED 200 VIEWS! THIS MEANS SO MUCH TO ME! I can't even begin to describe how happy you guys have made me. I swear, I'm doing my best to write this so you guys won't get bored while reading it. I won't be like one of those I-need-a-hundred-reviews-or-else-imma-stop-writing authors, but reviews motivate me a lot, so feel free to drop one anytime!**

**Disclaimer:**

**Thomas: She doesn't own me.**

**Newt: or me**

**Minho: or me**

**Alby: or me**

**Every damn character in TMR: or me**

**Aidan: or me…**

**Me: HEY! I own you!**

**Lee: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA**

**Me:…**

Aidan:

I could feel everyone speechlessly staring at us. "How…" I heard Newt stammer.

"Well, its correct isn't it?" Lee asked, hopeful. "Yes, it is, but how did… you know nothing about the maze!"came Minho's confused reply.

"We figured it out. It's simple physics actually." I answered. Just then, an idea so wonderful struck me, that I jumped off the chair, kicking Kyra while doing so. I ignored her cry of surprise, and turned in Alby's direction.

"Alby!" I half-screamed, "Why don't you put Lee and me in charge of studying the maps?"

I waited for my suggestion to take effect, but when no response came from anyone, I tried to back it up with logic. "We just showed you that we can figure stuff out without knowing a thing about the maze. I honestly don't think I can do anything else, and Lee just proved she's good at this too! So, why not?" I asked, almost sheepishly.

I knew Alby was hesitating. A job like the one I suggested didn't exist. To give me what I asked for, they'd have to make another job for me. Thankfully, Newt spoke once again, in our defense.

"I think the kid's right Alby. Him and Lee didn't know anything about the maze, and they figured out the position of the cliff within a matter of minutes. He can bloody well do anything else, and I don't see any harm in having more people studying the maze, what with the Creators getting desperate."

Alby sighed, making me wonder if he'd see fit to oblige. After a moment's silence though, he said exactly what I wanted him to. "Al right Newt. I don't see the point in making them go through the other jobs. They're pretty shuck clever, they've already proved that. I don't see any problem in making a new job for these two." He came over and clapped me on the back. "You'll start your new job from tomorrow kid."

I pumped my fist in the air, and Lee let out a whoop. Kyra hugged me close, laughing.

From tomorrow, I would have a part to play in the glade.

~.~.~.~.

Kyra:

I sat down on my sleeping bag, which had ended up in between Newt and Lee. Lee was sound asleep, but Newt lay wide awake. Before I could say anything, Newt turned to me and said, "Crazy day huh?"

I laughed in response. Newt lay down on his back, and looking up at the sky. He ran a hand through his hair, pushing his golden bangs out of his eyes. "I can't wait to get out of this bloody place Kyra. It's been way too long. All I want is to solve the shuck maze and go back to wherever I came from, wherever that is."

I sat cross legged beside Newt. "I know Newt." I said, looking down at his soft brown eyes, "I've been here only one day, and I can't wait to get out. I literally can't imagine what it must be like for you guys, stranded here all these years."

I paused, knowing the next question of mine might hit at a personal level, but I asked it anyway.

"How'd you get that limp Newt?"

His face darkened, and I knew there was no way he was going to tell me. "Long story short, I screwed up badly, and it cost me the job of being a runner." I could tell this was his polite way of saying mind-your-business, but I kept shut. He sighed and turned away from me, indicating the end of this conversation.

"G'night Kyra." He said.

I felt myself wishing he hadn't ended our conversation. Newt seemed to be the nicest person I'd met till now, besides Aidan of course. I liked talking to him. It had been merely a day, but with all that had happened, I felt like I knew him longer.

"Good night Newt."

I lay down as well, letting sleep pull me under its dark covers.

_Suddenly, I was seven years old again, in a dark room. Nothing about the room seemed threatening. A soft glow came from somewhere to my left. I was in a bed, leaning against the bed-rest. Someone lay with their head on my lap, a kid. I instantly recognized his soft blond hair and cute smile._

"_Go to sleep Aidan." I found myself saying, "Or else mommy will be mad at both of us." My voice came out exactly like the squeaky voice one would expect from a seven-year-old._

"_But I'm' not sleepy Kyra! And it doesn't matter anyways. I always see nothing but black. What difference would sleep make?" Aidan answered, his tone slightly whiny. I laughed and kissed his forehead. "You have to sleep turnip, that's what people do at night. Now, we don't want mummy yelling at us right?" I sounded strangely mature, even at such a young age._

_I was greeted by silence from Aidan. I began to think that he'd finally fallen asleep, but he suddenly asked me "What does the sun look like, Kyra?"_

_I sighed. "Well," I began, "its big, and yellow, and round, and really really bright."_

_Aidan looked confused before asking, "What does a yellow look like?"_

_I found myself wishing I could answer his question, when everything went black, and the memory faded._

~.~.~.~.~

**Aidan:**

It had been three days since Lee and I had been appointed as the official new 'Mappers'.

We had been introduced to the whole layout of the map the first day by Minho. By the end of the next day, Lee and I had memorized the patterns. Yesterday, we had predicted the day's wall movements, drawn a crude map on a sheet of paper, and all the runners had to do was mark the differences, if there were any.

We had handed today's map to Minho, who was going to be accompanied by Alby into the maze. When we'd asked them of this new arrangement, they simply shrugged and waved off our question. Later, when we'd asked Newt, he'd told us that Alby had gone to look at the place where Minho had supposedly found a 'dead' griever, the day before.

Ben, the boy who had attacked Thomas three days ago, had been banished just two days ago. Lee and I hadn't stayed for the banishing, but the boy's scream still sent a chill down my spine. It made me thankful that I hadn't stayed to see it.

Lee and I sat in the garden, leaning against trees. We had to wait until the runners returned to get the new maps. Kyra worked on the plants a few feet from me (she'd gotten the job of a Track-Hoe, and proven to be quite efficient at). Thomas paced nervously in front of us.

"What are you so worried about Thomas?" I asked, already half-knowing the answer.

Thomas' footsteps stopped suddenly, as if he'd turned to face me. "How'd you know that I was worried? I haven't said anything at all!"

I smiled, "Thomas, I'm a blind chap working on hand-drawn maps. I think I can tell by the nervous tapping of your feet, and the quick footsteps that you're worried about something."

Thomas didn't say anything for a while, and then replied, "Its Alby and Minho. They should be back by now, shouldn't they? All the other runners are back."

"I suppose you're right Tommy. But don't worry bro. Those two are gonna come back. Sooner or later, they will. Minho knows the dangers, he won't go strollin' the maze corridors." Lee said, and Kyra murmured in agreement.

Suddenly I heard the footsteps of someone approaching us; I cocked my head in their direction. The footsteps were uneven, as though the person limped.

"Tommy, I gotta have a little chat with you. Come on over." Newt said, his voice sounding urgent. "What's up, Newt?" Lee asked. Newt didn't say anything, but headed off with Thomas's footsteps following his.

"Bye" Kyra called after them. I turned my head in Lee's direction, giving her a knowing smile. I couldn't see it, but I knew that Lee was exchanging the exact same smile with me.

"What?" Kyra asked. I smiled even wider. "You like him don't you?"

"What?" she asked, sounding surprised, " Newt? No! No way Aidan. You're blabbing nonsense. I mean, seriously? Me and Newt? Nope!" She said way too many things way too fast, and that told us all we needed to know.

Lee burst out laughing and I started singing, "Kyra and Newtie-poo, sittin' in a tree-"

"Honestly you guys! Grow up already." She cut me off, clearly embarrassed. This sent howls of laughter from the two of us. I heard Kyra stomp off.

Little did I know that our cheerful spirit would be short-lived.

~.~.~.~

Aidan:

With each passing hour, our worry increased. By sundown, every last glader, or so Kyra told me, was standing at the entrance of the West wall. Minho and Alby were to come back through here, but so far there had been no sign of their return. Suddenly, I heard the loud grinding noise of the walls start to close.

"Oh no.." I heard someone mutter from beside me.

"Do you guys see them?" I asked. "There!" Thomas yelled. Suddenly someone beside me started to struggle, thrashing about. "LET ME GO! They're in there. I gotta HELP!" came Lee's voice. "You can't go in there kid! Its against the bloody rules!" I heard Newt say. He'd probably have grabbed Lee when she tried to run into the maze. I heard Minho's yell, filled with despair, and knew from the sound of the closing walls that they were too far to make it.

"TOMMY NO!" Newt yelled, but I could already hear Thomas' footsteps running into the maze. His footsteps stopped, and I guessed that he had reached the other side.

Just as the walls closed on them for the night.

**A/N: I'm really sorry for the boring chapter and late update. **


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: HOLY HEPHAESTUS 275 VIEWS! I seriously can't tell y'all how happy I am. This story means a lot to me, and you guys have made me VERY happy. I promise to try and write even better for you people. I also wanted to say that the story will be somewhat a mix of the movie and book. Read on mates!

Dis.: I don't own TMR. My brain can think up only of my OCs. The rest is the work of James Dashner.

Oh yes, and a big shout-out to anyone and everyone who has favourited this story.

**Kyra: **

"TOMMY!" Lee yelled, but she stopped struggling against Newt. She must've understood how pointless it was. From the other side of the massive walls, we heard a faint, barely audible "Lee!".

"C'mon guys. Get back to work. There's no use now." Newt said grimly. Tears brimmed in my eyes, and as all the gladers slunk away from the door, I could tell all of us had only one question on our minds.

Would they make it?

~.~.~.~.~

Kyra:

Lee hadn't budged from in front of the door. She sat in the same position for hours, glaring at the wall. The sun had set for about three hours now, and Newt called for lights out. We'd have to wait until the Wake-up tomorrow to know what had become of Thomas, Minho and Alby. The last I'd seen of them, Alby was being dragged by Minho, clearly unconscious. I didn't bet on them making it through the night.

I spotted Newt and Aidan making their way over to Lee, and decided to join them. Someone would have to convince Lee to come inside and sleep. When we reached her, I'd expected her eyes to be filled with tears, but what I saw was completely different. Lee was simply glaring at the wall ahead of her, as if she felt no grief at the loss, but was simply angry about the whole situation.

"Hey, Lee?" Aidan asked, tentatively. "I'm fine. Don't go all teary-eyed on me." came Lee's curt reply.

I put a hand gently on her shoulder. "They might make it you know, you can't give up on them so easily." I said reassuringly, though I knew I was lying to her.

"Oh I know they'll make it." She said a matter-of-factly, " I'm just waiting so I can punch Tommy's face when he comes back." I was a little taken aback. Judging from their expressions, so were Newt and Aidan. "What?" Newt asked.

"They're gonna kick some griever butt and come back." She said, "Imma sit here and wait."

"Well, if you want to wait, why not go inside?" I asked softly. Lee adamantly shook her head.

Lee refused to budge from her position, and Aidan wouldn't go anywhere if Lee didn't come, so we ended up getting them two sleeping bags, and watched them crawl inside their individual bags. Aidan managed to do that just fine without our help. Once we were sure that they were sleeping (though it took Lee a while to fall asleep), Newt and I headed back to our sleeping bags.

I sat down on mine, and turned to Newt, who lay wide awake. His two best friends were out in the maze. Sleep wouldn't come so easily to him.

"Why does Lee care so much about Thomas? I mean, sure, he's our friend, but Lee acts as though he's something… else?" I stuttered to an end.

Newt raised an eyebrow at me, which made him look a little like an elf. "You mean no one told you yet?"

I shook my head.

Newt turned away and said, "Lee is Tommy's cousin."

I was now officially confused. "How did they know that?" I asked, even though I knew Newt wanted to end the conversation. He sighed and said, "I suppose the same way you knew Aidan was your brother."

I opened my mouth to say something, but Newt cut me off. "Look, I'm really tired, and today has been a bloody bad day. Go to sleep, and let me sleep too."

I was a little hurt by his sudden rudeness, but I ignored it, knowing how stressed out he was. His breathing slowed down, and I knew he'd fallen asleep. Exhaustion must have overcome worry, and I smiled. I gently patted his shoulder and said, "They'll make it. Don't you worry."

And this time, it didn't feel like I was lying.

~.~.~.~.

Kyra:

I woke up to someone shaking my shoulder. "Huh?" I asked, still half-asleep. "Hurry up Kyra! The doors!" came Zart's voice. That woke me up.

I hurriedly got up and ran to the door, where everyone was already present.

"I don't see them!" Lee cried. I stole a glance at her, and wanted to pull the poor thing into a hug. Her hair was disheveled, and she had bags under her eyes, which, usually mischievous, now were filled with worry. Suddenly her face lit up. "There!" she yelled, pointing off inside the maze. My head snapped to the direction in which she was pointing, and I could make out two figures, lumbering towards us, supporting a third. Lee ran over to them, and took the supported boy from their shoulders, relieving the pressure on the other two, who somehow made it to the glade and promptly collapsed. Lee half-dragged, half-carried the other boy, but she was struggling under his weight. The med-jacks took him from her shoulder, and laid him down. I caught my breath when I saw him face. Alby didn't look good at all. A huge lump was forming on his head, and I could see green veins all over his body. Aidan stepped up beside me, and I didn't bother pointing out which boy was which. He was smart enough to figure that out himself. Newt turned to Thomas and asked the obvious question.

"What the bloody shuck happened?"

"Alby got stung." Thomas groaned over from where he lay. Everyone gaped at him. "You mean to say you saw a bloody Griever?" Someone asked.

"He didn't just see the damn thing." Minho answered, rasping out the words, "He killed it."

A/N: I'm sorry its so short, but since it is, I'll post two chapters today. How's that sound? Good? And I know Gally hasn't made an appearance yet, in my story, but trust me, we'll see a lot of him in the next chapter.

A fellow glader.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:**

**I'm so sorry I couldn't update! But here's the new chapter… I hope y'all like it. I'm sorry for my pathetic attempts at fluff, but I'm trying hard to make sure my story has all the elements needed for a good plot. I've already thought out the whole thing, and I promise I won't abandon this. Please review! And OH MY GODS MORE THAN 300 VIEWS! I want to thank everyone for reading this, it makes me seriously happy.**

**Disc: I seriously don't get the point of these anymore. James dashner own TMR. I do not. I said it. THERE! **

Kyra:

After Thomas and Minho had gotten checked by the Med-jacks for injuries, Newt called a gathering.

I was working in the garden, when he came up to me.

"Hey", he said, walking over. The sunlight reflected off his blond hair, making it look almost white. I'd expected a happy cheerful lad, but Newt looked awfully grim. Especially for someone who'd just discovered that his best friends were alive, against all odds.

"We're having a gathering. I want you to be there." He said. For a second, I harbored the thought that he'd want me there because I was his friend, but his tone was way too cold for that. He sounded almost like Gally, the keeper of the builders, who'd taken an immediate dislike for Thomas and me.

"But why me? I mean, I'm honored and all, but I'm not a keeper." I said, slightly confused.

He fixed me with a glare.

"Just come."

~.~.~.~.

Kyra:

As I sat on a chair in the gathering, I pondered Newt's behavior. He'd usually been nice to me, almost like a friend. He'd made me feel welcome in this most un-welcoming place. But today, he'd seemed cold, angry. Almost as though he blamed me for all that happened.

Lee and Aidan sat beside me, presumably because of their job as Mappers.

Newt stood up and cleared his throat.

"Alright, I think we all know what we're here for." Turning to Thomas, he continued, "How the hell did you make it out of that bloody maze?"

Thomas looked slightly nervous, as though he was uncomfortable with all the attention, but he coughed and began to narrate the incidents of the night, how they'd tied Alby off, how he'd gotten attacked by the griever, and how he and Minho had managed to trick the grievers into falling off that cliff. By the end, I could feel everyone's mouth hanging open. What he'd just said seemed almost inhuman. But doubts, if there were any, were cleared when Minho confirmed what he'd said. Thomas sat back down, and waited for the Keepers to announce a judgment.

Newt looked just as awed as any of us. "You… killed… woah…" Then he got himself together, and said, "Didn't think ya had it in ya Greenie."

"HEY!" Gally yelled over from the corner in which he sat. "What's with you?" Newt asked, clearly taken by surprise due to Gally's sudden outburst.

"I hate how all you shanks are just sitting there, appreciating what the greenie's done. He could've angered the Creators for all we know. No one knows what this could mean for us. Things are changing. There's no denying that. And I say it's HIS fault." Gally spat the last words, jutting his chin out in Thomas' direction. The entire place burst into argument. I could tell from the statements flying around, that some people agreed with Gally, while most did not.

"QUIET!" Newt yelled. I hid a smile. I'd always liked how Newt could control everyone, how he kept his calm in situations like these. "All of you, shut up." He added, in a more controlled voice.

Everyone settled down, though Gally continued to glare daggers at Thomas. Newt spoke with a strange calm in his voice, somewhat like the calm that came before a storm.

"You're right Gally. As much as I don't want to admit it, you're right about one thing. Things are changing." Gally smirked, but Newt quickly added, "All the rest is klunk."

Gally went red in the face. "You're just saying that 'cause you hate me. Before waving off what I said, at least think about it. Alby would never have ignored a suggestion like this."

That must've hit a nerve, because Newt's hard, dismissive expression softened. "All right, we'll discuss what you said later, maybe call another gathering. But now, I need to say something that I think even you'll agree with." Newt glared at me once again before saying, "Everything that's changing, is her fault."

I was dumbfounded. I expected the entire hall to burst into argument, like they had when Gally accused Thomas, but no one contradicted Newt. Some shot me guilty looks, but no one spoke. They all blamed me for what was going on.

"How can all this be Kyra's fault?"Aidan asked. "All this klunk that's going on started after she came. First Ben got stung, then Alby. Lee stabbed herself the day this shank woke up. Grievers have been killed for the first time ever, and now the bloody box won't come up."

Apparently this was news, because everyone looked appalled. "What?" Minho asked.

"It's true." Newt said grimly, "It was supposed to come up the day after this shank did, but it didn't. We thought, maybe it was delayed, but even after three days, it hasn't come up. There's only one possible deduction. The Creators have cut off our supplies."

The entire room went quiet. Everyone knew what this meant. "So what now? What do we do? Throw her in the slammer?" Someone, Jeff I think, asked. "No, that's what we should do with this slinthead." Gally pointed at Thomas.

Newt sighed, rubbing his eyes. "I don't think we CAN do anything. Throwing these people in the slammer won't change anything. I say we let them go, and carry on about our business. We'll have a vote."

~.~.~.~.~

Aidan:

Half an hour later, we had all gone back to our work. The council had voted in Thomas and Kyra's favor, with the exception of Gally and Winston. I could tell Kyra was hurt by Newt's statements about her. She'd considered Newt her friend, but I couldn't really say Newt had back stabbed her. He was only saying what he thought was good for the Glade. Also, his best friend Alby was now in the infirmary, dying because he'd been stung. Of course Newt would be stressed.

I had to take yesterday's map from Minho, which I hadn't done till now. I headed out of the map room, towards the council hall. I had Lee describe the glade to me, and could make out where I was, more or less. I did sometimes need help though, I wasn't completely independent

I was somewhere near the gardens, when someone tackled me from behind. I cried out in surprise, but the person punched my jaw, making me scream in pain. I threw a punch where I thought the person's face was, but hit thin air. He started screaming in my ear, a guttural scream that deafened me. I was screaming my head off too. The gardeners had stopped working by now, which explained why people didn't immediately come to my rescue. He clawed my face, and I was sure he'd drawn blood. He bit my hand, digging his teeth deep into my flesh. I couldn't form words from my screams. They were sounds of pure terror. I kept clawing at the attacker, sometimes hitting a target like his face, but mostly missing. This was one of many times where my blindness was my weakness. I didn't know what sort of monster was attacking me, but he didn't seem to hesitate to kill me. He wrapped his hands around my neck and started to squeeze. All this time, he was screaming in my ears, so loud, that he was hurting them. I wondered how people didn't hear us yet. He kept squeezing my neck, until the veins in my head started to hurt. I couldn't scream anymore; he was choking me so hard. I closed my eyes, anticipating death, when someone tackled my attacker off of me. I got up, clutching my neck, and started running away from the boy.

I didn't care where I was running. All I wanted was to get away from the boy who'd tortured me in that brutal way. His screams still rang through my ears. I could vaguely hear the walls start to close. The sound got louder, then softer, and I guessed I had probably run past a door. I didn't care though. I ran until my feet hurt, then collapsed. I put my hands over my ears, and let loose a scream, just like the one the boy had.

I was aware of someone screaming my name, but I was too disoriented to register it. The grinding noise of the walls closing stopped, and someone collapsed beside me. "What in the holy shuck were you thinking?" I heard Lee's voice. I pulled her into a hug. "I don't know what happened. The boy, he just attacked me."

I let go of her, holding back my tears. I didn't want to seem weak, but the attack had shaken me up badly. It was when I finally got myself together, that I noticed the absence of the sounds of the glade. I rubbed my hand over the ground, a horrifying thought overcoming me. The ground was cold hard stone, just like in the...

"Lee, please tell me we're not where I think we are." I told her, already dreading the answer. If my hunch turned out true, the chances of us living to see the next day were very slim.

Lee let out a groan, and said exactly what I feared.

"If you think that you, like a lunatic ran into the maze, and I, like a bigger lunatic ran in after you, and now we're trapped here for the night, then yes, I'm afraid what you're thinking is correct."

**A/N: HAHAHAHAHAHA cliffhanger! I'm so sorry, but I couldn't resist. Review please! I'll try to update quickly, so as to not leave y'all hanging. ;)**

**A fellow glader**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Hola mi amigos! Here I am again, with the next chapter. Just to put this out there, y'all are going to have to wait to see what became of Aidan and Lee. *Maniacal evil laugh*. But don't worry. I'll try not to make this chapter too boring. Hehe. *grins***

**Jemjnz: First off,I wanna thank you for being the very first reviewer. THANK YOU SO MUCH! *happy smile* and as for Aidan and Lee, well, we'll have to wait and see. Hey, that rhymed!**

**Dis.: I don't own TMR.**

Kyra:

I'd been in the kitchen when it happened. I heard some boy's blood curling scream, followed by my brother's plea for help. I immediately dropped the herbs I was bringing Frypan, and dashed out. I was greeted by a horrifying sight.

A young boy, not much older that Aidan had him pinned on the ground. Aidan was flailing aimlessly, trying to it the other boy, but missing the target multiple times. The boy was screaming beside Aidan's ears. Aidan's screams of pure agony joined his. As I stood frozen with horror, the boy wrapped his fingers around Aidan's throat, and began to squeeze. I snapped out of my shock, and ran forward to help, but I knew I was too far away to reach in time. Just when I thought it'd be too late, Thomas came from nowhere and tackled the boy. He shoved him off of Aidan, who grabbed his throat, and started running away. I reached Thomas, who had the other boy on the ground, just as the walls began to close for the night. Newt came running up to us, along with Lee, Minho and Zart.

"What the heck just happened?" Zart asked, no one in particular.

"This idiot attacked Aidan." I pointed towards the boy, my voice filled with spite. Minho still had his runner's outfit on, his knife kept in the pack. Before anyone could speculate further, on what exactly happened, Lee grabbed Minho's knife from his pack, and started sprinting towards the west door. It was then that I realized the full, horrifying truth.

Aidan had run into the maze.

I cried out his name, knowing only too well that he couldn't hear me. The trauma of the attack must've hurt him badly. I started running after Lee, and I knew that the others were following me.

I repeatedly yelled Aidan's name, but he showed no response. Despair clung to me like a cold blanket, as I realized how helpless I was. The doors were almost shut. Lee was the only one who was close enough to make it. She must have realized this too, because she put on more speed, and entered the doors. She squeezed through, just as the walls shut for the night, trapping my blind brother inside the deadly maze.

~.~.~.~.

Kyra:

Thomas ran to the walls and pounded against it, yelling Lee's name. He sunk to his knees, sobbing. He, like me, knew that there was no way that Aidan and Lee were going to make it. He'd lost someone today, just like I had.

I had no thought whatsoever of the boy who'd attacked my brother. All I thought of was how I'd failed him. I should've been paying attention to where he was headed. My knees buckled, and I collapsed on the grass, crying harder than ever. Someone held me by the shoulders, Zart. He knew better than to console me. I buried my face in my hands.

I was the worst sister anyone could have the misfortune of having. It was my responsibility to look out for Aidan, especially since he was blind. I should have been with him throughout the time. Instead, I was too busy being angry at some boy I didn't even know.

Aidan was all I had. He was all that was left of my family, all the reason I had to go on. Without him, I saw no meaning to this ridiculous struggle. I had hope, that one day, Aidan and I would be able to live like normal siblings, but now that hope was shattered. All because I had failed him. I didn't deserve to continue.

Every Glader agreed with me. I had brought on all of this. It had been because of me that Ben died, Alby was in that pitiful state. I was the reason these Gladers no longer had supplies. The only thing I had in the glade was Aidan. Now I had messed that up too.

I slowly rose to my feet. Zart had left my side, after realizing that his presence did nothing to help me. I was glad, for he surely would have tried to stop me.

_The box hole_, I thought. I flashed back to something I had overheard Newt telling Thomas. When someone had tried to go down through the box hole, they'd been cut in half.

And why not. I was useless. I couldn't look out for my own little brother, and I had doomed this Glade once and for all, just like Newt said. My irresponsibility had put even Lee, a kid, in death's icy grasp. Now my brother and is best friend were dead. And all this had been my fault. It was best for everyone if I just went away. For good.

Without realizing, I had already reached the box hole. I put one foot over the void, waiting before I took the next step. I glanced back at the glade, tears blurring my vision. I was somewhat aware of someone running over to me, but I didn't care.

"I'm sorry." I said, my voice breaking. I turned back towards the box hole.

Before I could reconsider my decision, I closed my eyes and jumped.

~.~.~.~.~

Kyra:

Pain.

That was the first thing that I felt. It coursed through my body, making my vision go red. But I got my mind around the pain, I realized one thing.

I wasn't dead.

Someone had grabbed me by the arms, just as I had jumped. I was hanging in the void, kept from death only by whoever had saved me. Panic started welling up in my throat, as I came face to face with what I was just about to do.

The person started pulling me up, and now that my mind had cleared, I understood what a drastic step I had been about to take. I needed to survive. For Aidan. All those suicidal thoughts seemed far away, a storm, created by despair for my brother. I hadn't been thinking straight. And it had nearly cost me my life.

The person yanked me out of the hole, onto the grass. I could feel them collapse beside me, panting. I started breathing heavily, considering what the outcome of my idiotic task might've been. "What the HELL Kyra! What were you thinking?" I heard Newt's voice, panting. So he was the one who'd kept me from being chopped in half. I threw my arms around him, sobbing. I didn't want to speak just yet. Today's events had taken their toll on me. Emotions overwhelmed my mind, and I struggled to stay conscious. I was hyperventilating now, and Newt must've realized that, because he didn't pressurize me to explain. He spoke kind words, none of which got past the ringing in my ears.

I pulled away. "Newt, I'm so sorry! I didn't know what I was doing. Aidan, he just… I was so shocked, I swear, I didn't mean to. Please, please forgive me." I cried into my hands. I didn't want to seem like a damsel in front of all these people, but everything had happened so fast. I had been so close to death. I couldn't possibly mess things up more.

"Hey, it's okay. Just calm down." Newt said. I could barely manage a nod. He sat beside me, as I cried my eyes out for Aidan.

~.~.~.~

I sat leaning against a tree, facing the west wall. I understood why Lee hadn't wanted to take her eyes off the door, the night Thomas and Minho had been stuck in the maze. All the pain and sadness I had felt earlier was now gone, replaced by a sort of hollowness inside me. I threw a rock, watching it bounce once before settling on the grass.

"Hey." I heard a voice behind me. I sighed. "Go away Newt. I don't wanna talk to anyone right now. Leave me alone."

He came over and sat beside me.

I rolled my eyes. "Why are you even here? Didn't you want me dead, just this morning?" I snapped. He laughed softly. "That isn't a bloody nice way of treating the person who saved you life." I turned to him. "Thank you for saving my life. Now go away."

"Can't do that." He said, "The other boys sent me here to console you." I raised an eyebrow. "In other words, they want you to make sure I don't do anything stupid." Newt looked sheepish. "I won't do anything like that Newt. That was momentary, because of the shock of what happened. It won't happen again."

I looked away from him. I was still hurt from the way he'd treated me in the morning, and after Aidan's loss, I just didn't feel like seeing anyone's face. Newt put one arm from behind me, and awkwardly patted my shoulder, with only his fingertips. I laughed bitterly. "This is your consoling?"

Newt looked down before saying, "I didn't mean to come off so cruel this morning. I wanted to apologize." When I didn't reply, he continued, "I was just so stressed out by what was going on, and I realized everything started after you came up, so I blamed you. I also realized, later on, that this wasn't actually your fault. It's all got to do with the buggin' Creators. I'm sorry."

I shrugged. "You don't have to apologize, Newt. It doesn't matter. Not now. I just lost my brother. Getting blamed for all the klunk going on around here is the last thing on my mind."

There was a moment of silence between us, before Newt said, "Ross."

"What?" I asked, slightly confused. "Ross, that's the name of the chap who attacked Aidan." I nodded, not really caring. Nonetheless, Newt continued. "You should've seen him. One minute he was struggling against us, and the next, he was looking around, confused. When he'd realized what he'd done, it hit him hard. He turned into something of an animal, shrieking, howling, and screaming. He was struggling against us like hell. We didn't know what else to do, so we threw him in the slammer. I checked on him before coming here. Still bawling his eyes out, he was." He rubbed his eyes, the way he did when he was stressed. "Was he… you know" I asked. Newt shook his head. "No, he wasn't stung. He didn't show any signs of a griever attack. He isn't even a runner, he's a slicer. The poor sod has never been out of the bloody glade. I really don't know what had gotten into him. You know, when he was screaming, it was hard to make out words, but I thought he might've been apologizing." He scratched the back of his neck. "I'm sure of anything anymore, to be frank. With all this havoc, it's hard to make sense of whatever is going on."

I nodded, but I knew none of this would bring back my brother. Newt must've understood my thoughts, because after a moment's pause, he said "You shouldn't give up on them so easily you know." echoing the words I had previously spoken to Lee. "They might make it. They're Mappers, they know the maze better than almost any of us."

"How come you're saying this, when not even three days ago, you insisted that no one could make it out of the maze?" Newt shook his head before replying. "That was before Tommy and Minho survived."

I laughed another small, bitter laugh. "Oh please Newt. Thomas and Minho were two fit sixteen-year-olds. Aidan is a kid. And to top it off, he's blind. Lee can't hold off a dozen grievers, now can she?" I paused, looking towards the big house, where I knew Thomas was, doing god-knows-what. "Thomas is luckier I suppose. Lee has a slight chance of coming out of that maze alive."

Newt scoffed. "You know you're lying to yourself if you think for a second that Lee will come through those doors without Aidan. She'd throw herself off one of the walls, if that meant saving him. No." Newt took me by the shoulders, turning me, so that I faced him. "They're gonna make it Kyra. I believe that, and it would be best if you did too. Don't give up on them."

He let go of my shoulders, and leaned against the tree beside my own. "Try and get some sleep. Trust me, sleep comes even when you don't think it will. When Aidan comes through those doors in the morning, I don't think he'll be pleased to see his sister looking like a zombie." With that, he closed his eyes, leaving me to ponder what he'd said. And now, thinking over everything he'd told me, I felt a sensation I hadn't felt even once, the whole day.

Hope.

**A/N: So? How was it? Yay? Nay? The next chapter will probably be Aidan and Lee, in the maze, so there's gonna be some kick-buttowski action. Well, I'll try to make it kick-buttowski. I added some changes in this chapter, so yep. I hope you liked it! Stay tuned amigos!**

**A fellow glader.**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Ta ta da daaaaaa! Here's the chapter! Finally we get to see what Aidan and lee did in ze maze. HAHAHA. So, I figured that if I wrote this from Aidan's point of view, it would be really vague, and no one would be able to understand what was really going on. Thus, I have decided to write this chapter from the third person's POV. And I sincerely hope that I don't mess it up. **

**Embers to Ashes: thanks! And we see what comes of those two in this chapter, but I can say, I'm not making it easy for them. *winks***

**Intotherealwild: thanks for the compliment! I'll try to update as fast as possible!**

**Dis: My mind hath not the ability to think up of TMR. It is the genius work of James Dashner. My mind can only thinketh up of Aidan, Lee, Kyra and Ross. **

Aidan had no idea what to do anymore. He couldn't yet get his mind around the situation they were in. He wondered how it was possible for someone to have luck as bad as his. Lee on the other hand, was mentally preparing herself for the night. She didn't run all the way into this stinking maze just to embrace her death. She was determined to make it through the night, with Aidan.

"Lee?" Aidan asked, hopefull, "We can do this right? I'm not giving up so soon. We can at least try to make it." Lee was still panting from that dash she made into the maze, but she still said, "Yep. We'll give those Grievers a taste of Lee-and-Aidan-ishness." Aidan relaxed just a bit. He was thankful for Lee's company. If he had been alone, he'd probably have been dead without any courtesy of the Grievers.

"So what do we do? Any plan?" Aidan asked. "Nope. I know we'll survive. Just working on the 'how' bit of it." Lee replied, digging her knife into the floor. She'd managed to grab it from Minho before coming here, and now she raised it to get a better look. It was fairly long, about as long as her forearm, with one side straight; the other slightly curved. It was razor-sharp, and it would come in very handy indeed against the grievers.

"What about the ivy on these walls? Can't we climb to the top, and climb down the other side, into the glade?" Aidan suggested, running his hand along the ivy, measuring its strength. "Nope. The ivy on the side of the glade doesn't go all the way to the top, and even if it did, it's too weak. It won't support our weight." Lee replied, already having had the same thought. "Alright, well, we'll just climb to the top of a wall, and stay there, how about?" Aidan tried again. "Not a bad idea, but Newt said these shuck Grievers can climb walls. If even one of the climbs up there, we're goners for sure."

Lee thought for a while, remembering the last people who were in their situation. "Why don't we do what Tommy and Minho did? Lead the Grievers to the cliff, and have them jump off?" Aidan shook his head. "The Creators must've programmed the grievers against that sort of thing by now. The Grieves will be expecting that. I'm fairly sure that won't work."

"Alright, but we can use the idea, right? The Grievers have weak reflexes. They can't see us, but hear us and smell us. We'll use that to beat them."

Aidan nodded approvingly. "The only problem that remains is how we use that idea. There must be at least one other place where this idea can be implemented." Lee said, thinking hard. Suddenly it struck them, and they looked at one another, already formulating their plan.

"The Blades."

~.~.~.~.~.

Their plan was stupid. And not to mention extremely dangerous.

"You know, avoiding the grievers in the first place should be our first concern." Aidan said, knowing full well that the chances of their plan succeeding were very slim, "Today is Thursday, which means sections four, six and seven will be open. That's good 'cause seven's really close to the blades. How long would it take for us to run all those three sections Lee?"

"Judging by the fact that I'm basically gonna be leading us, relying completely on memory, I'd say about twelve hours."

"Good. That's very good. The walls stay closed for only eight hours, so that's how long we have to stick it out."

"So we keep running, and if we see a Griever, we lead the bloody thing to the Blades." Lee said, catching on quickly. She got up and brushed the dirt off her pants. She helped Aidan up, who held onto her hand tightly. He had placed his complete trust in her, knowing full well that she had memorized every inch of the maze, every pattern. She'd be able to run the sections without making a mistake, for even a small one would cost them their lives.

"C'mon bro. We'll start with section six, 'cause it's closest to seven." She started running, but Aidan held her back.

"Lee, you do know that by following this plan of ours, we could die."

"Annnnnnd?" Lee said, encouraging Aidan to continue. A smile broke through his worried face, and he said, "Let's do it."

~.~.~.~

They'd been running for a while now, Lee leading them flawlessly through the dark corridors of the maze. They hadn't encountered a Griever so far, but Aidan suspected it wouldn't be long before they did.

Sure enough, moments later, Aidan's fear decided to make its appearance.

They were running along a long corridor, when suddenly, from one of the branches ahead of them, a monstrous Griever appeared, in all its hideous glory. Its metallic legs spun, and it raced forward, ready to sting its next two victims. However, Lee was ready. She hadn't run into the bloody maze to get stung by this… thing. "AIDAN MOVE!" She yelled, shoving him to the side. He knew better than to argue; his presence would be more troubling than helping. Lee dodged the first wave of metal legs, and stabbed the Griever in what she thought might have been its stomach. Black blood oozed out from the wound, and the Griever retracted, shrieking in pain. It raised its sting-thing (as Lee had decided to call it) again, and came in. Lee deflected one arm off her knife, but she wasn't quick enough. The Griever pinned her on the ground, using the full weight of its bulbous body. Not being in a position to attack, Lee looked around desperately for a solution. She spotted it, a few feet to her right. The Griever raised the sting-thing.

"AIDAN! ROCK! YOUR TWO 'O' CLOCK!" she yelled. Thank all the stars, Aidan understood. He ran towards that direction, and felt the ground. He found the rock, and heaved it with all his strength towards the metallic sounds of the Griever. He hoped to God that he hadn't hit Lee instead.

The sting-thing had come dangerously close to Lee's neck, when Aidan threw the rock. It hit the Griever, and the sting-thing was retracted once more, the Griever now pulling back to attack the source of the rock. Aidan had cleverly moved out of the way, and when the Griever charged the spot he'd been in, it dashed against the wall, leaving the coast clear, for Aidan and Lee. Lee grabbed Aidan's hand, and just as they had decided, started running for the Blades. The Griever was hot at their heels, but they had a good head start.

The dash for the blades was the most desperate thing the duo had done till now, which was saying a lot. They had to maintain enough distance so that they wouldn't get stung, but had to make sure the Griever followed them to the blades. Aidan held on firmly to Lee's hand, letting her lead him through the maze. His paced matched hers, so she didn't have to drag him. Lee could practically see the map in front of her eyes, as she ran towards the Blades. She knew every nook and crinny of this place, and she refused to let panic disorient her. She was sure of the pattern for today, and didn't make a single mistake.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of running, they reached the blades. The blades, as the two had learnt from Minho, worked in an interesting manner. Once someone stepped into their area, they would start closing, starting from the first row.

The blades were… well, blades. Tall, razor sharp, there were at least a thirty in a row between the two walls of the maze, leaving a gap of one or two meters on either side. When they were open, they were parallel to the walls, with a gap of about a meter between them, but when they closed, they would slice anything standing in between them in half. And that was exactly what Aidan and Lee planned on doing. They quickly chose the fifth row of Blades, which still had a while to close, but not too late. It had to be perfect timing, and their calculations usually weren't wrong.

"Lee, I'll do it." Aidan said, knowing the danger of the task. Lee laughed sarcastically. "No."

Aidan had been expecting that. "Lee, you'll have better judgment, and besides, we don't have much time." On cue, the Griever appeared at the tenth row, a distance of not more than twenty yards from them. Lee paled, and pushed Aidan aside. "Like you said." She positioned herself in between the two blades, and Aidan, reluctantly placed his hands on her shoulders, preparing himself. "We don't have much time."

The blades of the fifth row had begun closing, and the Griever ran towards them, from in between blades. The blades three before the ones between which Lee stood closed, and panic started setting on her. Aidan's hands had started sweating, and he tried not to think about how he might lose his friend today. "Just in case I die," Lee said, looking back slightly, "Tell Frypan that I ate all three mangoes. Oh and pick a good coffin for me. I want my soul to have peace." In a reply to which, Aidan yelled at her to shut up.

A million things could have gone wrong. They might not have timed it correctly; the Griever might be too slow; the blades might not have worked, just to name a few. But there was no turning back now. The griever was right in front of Lee, when the blade began to close. It pushed off with its hind legs to pounce on its victim.

"NOW!" Lee yelled, and Aidan jerked her back with all the force he could muster. Lee helped, but Aidan's strength had been enough. The two of them fell back, out of harm's way, as the Griever came between the two blades, which closed with a sickening_ 'thock', _slicing the Griever clean in half.

Aidan and Lee were panting hard, as their minds wrapped around the impossible feat they had managed to accomplish. They, against all odds, had managed to kill a Griever.

**A/N: So? How was it? I worked hard on this chapter, and don't worry. Troubles aren't over yet, for those two. The rest of the night still remains. *evil laughter***

**I'll try to update as fast as possible. Keep reading and reviewing!**

**A fellow glader.**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: HOLY MOTHER OF GAIA I CROSSED 600 VIEWS! THAT MADE ME SO DARN HAPPY! I want to thank all of you guys reading this, for…. Well… reading this! I'm so happy; my author's notes aren't making much sense. But OH WELL! Thank you! **

**minhosgirl: Thank you so much mate! I'm really glad you liked it. I'm trying to update as fast as I can, but sorry if its irregular. I was originally looking for a beta, but I later on decided to do the editing myself. But thankS for the offer! We see more of the duo in this chapter. **

**Dis.: **

**James Dashner : SHE DOES NOT OWN THE MAZE RUNNER. I DO. IT BELONGS TO ME.**

**Me: Woah… chill.**

**Me: BUT I OWN AIDAN, LEE, KYRA AND ROSS. THEY ARE MINE. MINE MINE MINE! THEY HAVE BEEN CREATED BY MY IMAGINATION. **

**Everyone: …**

**Me: *grins manically* read on please!**

"Holy shuck." Lee said. And it was strange, how those two words managed to sum up their situation perfectly. Aidan shook his head and laughed. He couldn't believe what they had done. But the night wasn't over yet. If his estimate was correct, they still had a good five hours before the doors opened.

"So what do we do now?" He asked, already anticipating the answer. Lee pulled Aidan up with her. "We run."

And so they did. Weaving through the corridors, Lee led them through section seven. They'd reached six, when Lee stopped and picked something off the ground. "What happened?" Aidan asked, now out of breath. They hadn't had a rest the whole night, and he could only imagine what Lee's state must have been. "It's a stick. A good strong one at that. It'll help us. Hold on." She knelt down on one knee, and began whittling the end of the stick into a fine point. _It's more of a branch than a stick,_ she decided.

She chopped the branch in half, and made the end of the other part into a sharp point too. Each part was as long as her entire arm, which she decided was a good enough length. She handed both to Aidan, who felt it, and his eyes widened.

"Lee, you're not seriously expecting me to fight Grievers, are you?"

Lee snorted. "Honestly, why does everyone think I have such crazy ideas? No Aidan, I'm not expecting you to fight Grievers. I'm not stupid." Aidan exhaled a sigh of relief. "Then what are these for?" he asked.

"They're back up. If I lose this knife while fighting, I'll ask you to throw me one of these. Though I don't think Minho will fancy the loss of his weapon." She grabbed Aidan's hand again, and started running. "C'mon. We don't want those buggers to find us, now do we?"

They couldn't have run more than fifty meters, when Lee stopped dead in her tracks. Aidan held his breath, listening closely to what was ahead of them. "Oh my god." He whispered.

A Griever had appeared twenty yards in front of them, sizing up his prey. Lee didn't waste even one moment. She turned to the wall beside them, where fortunately the ivy was thick and went up till the very top.

"CLIMB!" She barked at Aidan, who obeyed without an argument. He felt for a handhold and started climbing, Lee right behind him. She glanced back. The Griever must've decided that its victims were getting away, so it started bounding towards them.

They were climbing fast, but not fast enough. Aidan had to feel every vine, to see if it was strong, and he was doing remarkably, not faltering even once. But Lee knew that their speed would be outmatched by the Griever in no time. It had already started climbing the ivy. "Keep going!" She yelled at Aidan, who barely heard her over his concentration. He ran his hands over every vine, and then took the next step. One mistake would mean plummeting to his death. For the millionth time, he cursed his blindness.

Lee stabbed downward with her knife, and managed to hit the Griever. Unfortunately, she lost her footing in the process, and ended up dangling by one arm. "OI! Aidan!" she called. Aidan stuck out his arm, downward, not knowing Lee's exact position. She took it, and managed to steady herself. This little fault had given the Griever time to catch up to them.

Lee quickly made a desperate plan. She started going in a diagonal route, away from Aidan. The Griever now had two targets, and its attention was divided. It no longer knew which to pursue. Lee fixed that by yelling at the top of her lungs.

"HEY SNOTRAG! OVER HERE!" As she hoped, the Griever came after her, leaving Aidan safe. She groaned. That had been the easy part. Now was the difficult one.

She rapidly climbed back down, for she knew she stood no chance against the thing while hanging from a bunch of vines. She jumped off the vines, a meter before the ground, and readied her weapon. She glanced up to check Aidan's progress, and was happy to see that he'd made it to the top of the wall. He also readied himself with the two branches, in case Lee needed one of them. He knew what she had been doing all along, but decided not to counter it. He listened intently, trying to make out what Lee was doing, but it wasn't easy.

On the ground, Lee was showing incredible skills. She dodged the Griever's metallic legs, and swung at the sting-thing, successfully chopping it off. That had been her main motive. Not to get stung. If she'd gotten stung, all hope would have been over for them. The Griever, now deprived of its main weapon, attempted to stab her with its legs, but Lee rolled out of the way, bringing her dagger up in defense. The Griever missed her, but wasn't about to give up.

Lee's mind flashed back to her first encounter with these things. She'd stabbed it in its stomach, and it seemed to be hurt by that. She looked at it closely, which wasn't difficult considering the fact that it was now charging at her. She once again deflected the arms off her knife, and ran to the other side of the Griever, forcing it to swing around. She took the time to examine the thing. The only vulnerable part it seemed to have, was its head. An idea occurred to her, and out of happiness, she yelled "LIGHT BULB!" much to the poor Griever's confusion. Lee stabbed down at its stomach again, and hit the bull's eye. Black blood flowed from the wound, and the Griever shrank back, shrieking in agony.

"AIDAN" She yelled. Aidan knew immediately what she meant. He threw the first of the two branches in the direction of her voice. Lee reached up and caught it, just as the Griever began to recover from the attack. Lee didn't give it the chance. Running forward with a defiant yell, she reached the disgusting thing, and drove her hand-made weapon through its head, burying the tip in a crack she'd previously seen in the ground. With its head impaled, the Griever stood no chance and Lee dug out her knife and stabbed at every bit of exposed flesh, practically dousing herself in black ooze.

Every strike held all the pain and frustration she'd been holding in. She emptied all of her emotions into the knife, stabbing at the thing with all the ferocity and strength she could find inside herself. The Griever flailed weakly with its legs, but Lee didn't show mercy. She finally raised the knife high, and stabbed its back, the weapon going through its body, just like the branch had. The Griever stopped moving, and Lee knew the task had been completed. She stood back, to examine her work and when she saw the state of the Griever, she resisted the urge of emptying her stomach.

The Griever had been run through with weapons twice, and still stayed impaled to the ground. Its skin was barely visible over all the blood flowing from multiple different wounds that Lee had inflicted. She didn't know how she'd done it, but now, for the second time since she'd come to the glade, her clothes were soaked in blood. She let out a whoop and did a little dance of happiness. "BET YOU DIDN'T SEE THAT COMING GRIEVER! BOO-YAH!"

Aidan had started climbing down, assuming from Lee's cry of joy that the Griever had been defeated. He reached the ground, and ran over to where he thought Lee was, judging by her voice. He pulled her into a hug, and was surprised to find himself join in with her laughter. He still couldn't believe it. They'd stayed alive, made it through the night, and defeated not one, but two Grievers. The credit for all that went to Lee.

"Lee, you saved us!" he said, pulling away. Lee let out a laugh. "No, _we_ saved us." I rolled my eyes. Lee and her modesty. "Really? I don't recall doing anything, except maybe throwing that weapon. Don't you see? You've killed two Grievers!"

"Nope. We killed the first one together." I let out a frustrated sigh. "You're unbelievable, you know that?"

Lee sat down, catching her breath. "So I've been told." Aidan laughed and joined her.

"How much longer until the doors open?" he asked

"Well, the sun's coming up, and it's been about six or seven hours, so I'd say the doors will open after one or two hours." Lee answered, looking up at the sky. The pink rays of the sun were already streaking the light morning sky. "Let's just catch our breath, yes?" Aidan said. It was more of a statement than a question. Lee leaned her head against the wall, and closed her eyes. Aidan heard her breathing slow, and knew she was relaxing. Not sleeping of course, it wasn't possible to do that, being in the situation in which they were, but simply relaxing.

_This is what it must be like to have a younger sister,_ he thought. The two of them might not have been real siblings, but they treated each other exactly like that. And even though Lee was the one who was always looking out for the both of them, Aidan somehow seemed like the elder brother of the two. He felt Lee's face, and brushed her bangs out of her eyes. He felt proud of his little sister. He softly smiled to himself. Lee got up, hoisting him up too.

"Where are we going now?" Aidan asked. "We've killed two Grievers Aidan, it might give the gladers some clue as to how we can escape." Lee replied.

"So what, we're going to drag the Griever corpses back to the glade?"

"No, but we'll drag a part of the Griever corpse back to the glade. I think I saw something in the first one." She took his hand and started running to the blades again. Aidan didn't ask twice. Lee had gotten them through the night, and he'd learned to trust her judgment.

Lee stopped, having reached their destination. She peered at the Griever's half-body, and sure enough, saw what she had seen earlier. Right there, in the middle of the severed leg, was a blinking red light. She had no idea what it was, but the Gladers could figure that out. "C'mon Aidan. On three, I want you to pull with your entire strength okay?" she guided his hand to the Griever's leg, and he clasped on firmly. Lee held the leg in front of him. "One… Two… Three!" They pulled hard, and the bit of the leg that had still been attached, was broken. The leg came free, and they realized that it was heavier than they first imagined. "So… I'm guessing we drag this thing back to the glade?" Aidan already knew the answer.

"Yep. The walls will open in another half an hour or so. Alrighty then, let's go!" Lee declared, as she started dragging the leg behind her. Aidan stopped her, knowing how depleted her strength must have been. "Lee, you've been running and fighting the entire night. You'll drop dead now, from exhaustion. Let me carry the leg, you guide the way." Lee handed the leg to Aidan, without arguing. "Well bro, if you're offering so generously, who am I to refuse, eh?"

With one hand dragging the leg, and the other holding Lee's, Aidan followed her through the maze once again. He couldn't wait to meet Kyra, to tell her all that they had been through tonight.

"How much further to the doors?" He asked.

"Not much. We're almost there. Man, when we reach, the first thing I'm gonna do, is have a glass of shuck water. I could kill for one right now." Lee replied.

Just when he thought his legs would melt through his shoes, Lee stopped.

"We're here."

**A/N: They made it! HAHAHAHAHAHA! (I don't know why I'm laughing) I seriously liked writing this chapter. I hope y'all liked reading it too. Tell me what you think of it! **

**A fellow glader.**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Hey mi amigos! I'm back! And OHMYGODS OVER 700 VIEWS! THANK YOU SO MUCH! This means that people are actually bothering to read my story, and that makes me immensely happy. Is this update late? Yes. Is the chapter good? Nope. Am I sorry? TOTALLY! Are y'all gonna forgive me for this boring dull chapter? I don't know. But oh well! This chapter is a sort of filler. I hope you guys enjoy it! Please leave a comment as to how I can improve, how you liked it, anything at all! Constructive criticism is perfectly welcome! I'm rambling again, aren't I? Shut up, me. **

**Embers To Ashes: Hahaha, Lee and her glass of water eh? I loved writing those maze chapters, and I was so happy that you liked them too!**

**Dis.: I DO NOT OWN TMR. I OWN ONLY MY OCS. IF I HAD OWNED TMR, TDC WOULD HAVE BEEN A LOT LESS HEART WRENCHING. BUT NO, OWNING TMR IS NOT IN MY FATE. IT IS IN JAMES DASHNER'S. **

**I'm weird…**

**Read on please!**

"Newt, wake up! The doors will open any minute now!" I shook Newt's shoulder. He groaned and opened his eyes, still groggy. I didn't wait for him to wake up properly. I grabbed his arm and pulled him up, much to his surprise.

"What the…" he said. "The doors!" I pulled him along with me to the west wall, where Thomas was already present, waiting for the doors to open.

They began to crank open with the deafening noise, just as we reached them. I peered through the tiny gap, which continued to grow, trying to find any sign of my brother. I didn't see any.

The walls cranked fully open, and my heart filled up with joy.

Aidan and Lee sat leaning against a wall, exhausted, looking like zombies who spent the entire night rolling in the mud, but alive. And that was all I needed. They rose to their feet on seeing us.

Thomas and I rushed forward. Thomas wrapped Lee in a hug, and I threw my arms around Aidan, pulling him close. I buried my face in his hair, and tears threatened to spill through my eyes. I didn't say anything at first, just stood there, savoring the fact that my little brother was alive. He tightly wrapped his arms around me, and now I really was crying. "Oh my god. Oh my god. Aidan, I thought you were dead!" I cried, pulling away. He smiled weakly. "Well, long story short… not dead."

I laughed and kissed his forehead. Thomas was laughing too, and Lee was just looking around at the rest of the Gladers, all of whom had gathered around us. Frypan ran up to us, holding two glasses of water. Lee grabbed one, emptying its full contents before grabbing the other. "You sir," she said, pointing at Frypan before chugging down the second glass. "Are a ray of sunshine." She finished. Frypan looked awkwardly at Aidan, for I assumed the second glass was meant for him. He shrugged and ran off, possibly to get another.

Minho came up to us; clapped Aidan's back and gave Lee a high five. "Didn't think you'd make it greenie."

"It's good to see ya alive shank." Newt said, stepping up. He looked at something behind us, and his eyes widened. "Is that… a _Griever_ leg?" He asked, clearly bewildered. Lee spun around to look at what seemed to indeed be a Griever leg. She looked back at Newt. "No Newt, that's a banana." She said, sarcasm dripping from her words, "Of course that's a Griever leg! What else could it be?"

Newt held up his hand in surrender, and asked, "May I know how you ended up getting it?" Lee rolled her eyes. "Oh I waved my magic wand and it appeared in front of me."

Newt slapped his forehead. "Lee, _one_ serious answer. Is that too much to ask?" Aidan laughed before replying, "You're never getting straight answer from this shank. As to how we got the leg, I'd think that'd be fairly simple to work out. We killed a Griever."

Silence fell over the group. I looked at Aidan. _"What?" _I asked.

"Two, actually. And if you don't believe us, you can go to the blades and see for yourself. The corpse is still there. The other is somewhere in section six." Aidan told us. Lee doubled over, laughing. "Your faces!" She said, pointing towards all of us. Newt and Minho looked at each other, before looking at the two again. Minho stepped closer to Lee and looked at her clothes, which seemed to be covered in some oily black liquid. He shook his head. "They're right." He said, "I recognize that. That black stuff, its Griever blood."

Before anyone could say anything else, a figure whizzed back me and crashed into Aidan. It was the same boy who had attacked him before. At first I thought he was repeating his actions, but then with a start I realized he was apologizing.

The boy, Ross, hugged Aidan close, and was saying "Oh my god, I'm so sorry. Aidan, I'm so sorry. I had no idea what I was doing, I swear. Aidan please forgive me!" Aidan looked surprised to say the least. "HEY!" Newt pulled Ross off of Aidan, and Ross didn't struggle. He threw Ross to some other boys. "Take him out of here. Who let this slinthead out of the slammer anyway?"

Ross was crying his eyes out by now. "Newt please, please believe me. I didn't do anything! Newt you HAVE TO BELIEVE ME!" Ross yelled. "Didn't you hear me?" Newt snapped at the two boys who were holding Ross, "Take him back to the bloody slammer!"

"No, wait!" Aidan cried out, before gabbing Newt's arm. "Hold on, I think we should hear him out."

Newt sighed. "Wait." He turned to Ross. "What do you mean, you didn't know what you were doing?"

Ross looked relieved to have gotten a chance to speak. "I blacked out. It was as if something else was controlling my mind, making me do stuff. I never meant to attack Aidan, I wouldn't dream of it! When I finally got control of myself again, it was too late." He looked at Aidan and Lee. "Guys, I'm so sorry. I never meant any of the klunk I did, I swear to god."

Newt rubbed his eyes. "Fine. Take him to the homestead for now. We'll discuss this later, when these two look like humans, not walking dead." Ross let the other boys usher him to the homestead, and Newt turned back to Aidan and Lee.

"Um…" Lee started. She gestured towards the Griever leg. "There's something you guys should see."

She knelt down next to the leg, and Thomas and Minho stepped closer, to get a better look. "What the hell?" Thomas said, looking at what seemed like a red blinking light. Minho reached into the leg, and pulled out what looked like an intestine. A cylindrical object jutted out from the intestine. He pulled it free, covering his fingers in slime in the process. "That's disgusting." Zart commented.

"I think I just lost my appetite." I agreed. "What the hell is that?" Thomas asked, curious. Newt held up his hands, for quiet. "Woah woah woah. This needs to be discussed somewhere quiet, without all this klunk." He gestured towards the maze, and Lee and Aidan's state.

"I am, unfortunately, saying this way too often nowadays, but I'm calling a gathering." He looked at us. "Get them washed up. Then we'll talk about this."

**A/N: I'm so sorry if it's stupid. This chapter is just a filler, and I promise the next one will be better. Please leave a comment, telling me what y'all want from this story, and I promise to try to write accordingly. And please tell me how to improve! All comments are highly appreciated!**

**A fellow glader.**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: I'M BACK! With yet another chapter! And OHMYGOSH OVER 800 VIEWS, YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME. I really can't tell you guys how happy I am. So know that if you are reading this, you have contributed immensely to my happiness. I know the previous chapter was just a filler, but hopefully this one will be better. I'm sorry for the late update though… **

**minhosgirl : Thank you! I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**Leigha: OMG thanks for the compliment! It made me really happy! And thank you for pointing that out. Now I'll keep that in mind while writing. *big happy grin***

**Embers To Ashes: YAY! Lee got her wish fulfilled. Good old Frypan eh? And here is the next chapter; sorry for making you wait…**

**BookWorm237: Welcome to my story! I sure hope you like the rest of it too. **** And thank you for the compliment!**

**Dis: I don't own anything except whatever was not there in the books of TMR. James Dashner does. *bangs head against the table and curses fate for not letting me own TMR***

**Right then… **

**Enjoy!**

Kyra:

Minho led Lee and my brother away towards the washrooms, to get them washed up. Aidan had multiple injuries from Ross' attack, and though Lee was covered in black blood, making it difficult to spot any injuries, after a night of battling Grievers, she couldn't have escaped unscathed. I watched them walk away, and realized I was still soaking in the fact that my brother was alive. I couldn't help but have a huge grin on my face.

Suddenly the world did a three-sixty degree turn, and I found myself in another room altogether.

_Aidan and Lee lay in front of me, covered with the white sheets of a hospital bed. I was in a chair, and on looking beside me, I saw that Thomas was there too. On my other side sat a girl whom I didn't recognize. I realized with a start that I was having another memory. The memory was hazy, but clear enough to make out people's faces. I had a little trouble focusing though._

_There were two people standing beside the bed on which Aidan lay, and they peered at my brother and Lee, somewhat amazed and dreamy expressions over their faces. The woman, dressed completely in white spoke first. _

"_They're amazing, aren't they?" the man next to her nodded, and the woman continued, "His blindness is hardly an obstacle in his work; and she is one of the most talented people with computers. It is because of that very reason, that despite of being a girl, she is named after one of the greatest minds of computer. It's incredible, how they work together." She looked over at me, her expression soft. _

"_I am truly sorry we have to do this to you. You don't deserve all this. But unfortunately, you are the answer to everything, and to save the lives of many, a few must be sacrificed."_

_I kept my expression hard, not giving away any emotion. Thomas spoke up from beside me. _

"_Why are they being sedated now? Isn't it my turn?"_

_The woman nodded before replying. "Yes Thomas, you've gotten that absolutely correct. It IS your turn. However, these two are younger than the rest. We cannot administer such complicated medications without having them sedated for a while."_

_Thomas turned to look at me. "We must do this Kyra. We have to."_

_The girl, who'd been quiet till now, finally spoke, and the words echoed in my ears. _

"_Remember Kyra. Wicked is good."_

Then once again, everything went dark, and I returned to reality.

~.~.~.~.

"Kyra?" Newt was saying, "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

I realized I was holding Thomas' shoulder for support, and my forehead was beady with sweat. I steadied myself and said, "I had a memory."

Newt and Thomas looking justifiably surprised. "What?" Thomas asked.

I nodded. "I know. It wasn't really important, but I think it was before you, Thomas, were sent into the maze. Lee and Aidan had been sedated, so as to administer some sort of medication. There was a man and a woman. I didn't understand most of what they said, but they said something about sacrificing a few people to save many. There was a girl too." I paused for a breath before adding, "She said 'Wicked is good'. Any ideas as to what that means?"

Newt thought for a while, then said, "Doesn't give much information, except for one thing. The Creators of this place must think we're important somehow. I don't know _how_ yet, and it's not informative enough to be discussed at the Gathering." He ran a hand through his hair and added, "We'll think about this later. Now we have bigger problems to deal with." He looked at me, somewhat hopefully. "Kyra, can you do me a favor?"

I raised my eyebrow. "What sort of favor?"

"That boy Ross. He's not in a good state at all. I think he's going into shock. Talk to him would you? Calm the shank down, try to make him stop bawling." He looked down before continuing, "I don't want to ask you to do this, especially not after what Ross did to Aidan. But please, if there's anyone-"

I cut him off in mid-sentence. "It's okay Newt. I'll go see what I can do. And honestly, after the boy has apologized so many times, I find it difficult to still stay mad at him. Besides, what he said sounded a lot like what Lee went through, when she stabbed herself. I'll try and calm him down, okay?"

Newt smiled and said "Thank you."

Thomas patted my shoulder before walking away in the direction of the gardens. I didn't bother asking why he went there, of all places. I had a task at hand. I gave Newt a wry smile, and ran off towards the homestead.

~.~.~.~.

Kyra:

"What're you doing here?" Clint asked me, as I opened the door to the homestead. "Newt wanted me to talk to Ross, to stop him from crying his eyes out at the gathering." I replied, heading in.

Clint nodded. He pointed towards one of the rooms. "He's in there." He rubbed his forehead, looking worried. "I really don't know what to say about the chap." He said, "Whatever he did to Aidan, it broke him. The guy's blaming himself for everything. I can't set a foot in his room without him falling over himself trying to apologize." He looked at me, smiling lightly. "I really am glad Newt sent you. Maybe you'll be able to calm him down." I smiled back, and opened the door to Ross' room.

What I found inside was shocking, and heart breaking.

Ross was sitting on his bed, hugging his knees, curled up in a ball. I could tell he was crying, and his sobs were so full of pain, that they almost brought tears to my own eyes. I closed the door behind me, and walked over to his bed. I sat down gently, so as to not disturb him.

Ross looked up, his eyes red. "Kyra! Please, you have to forgive me! I really didn't mean any of it! I'm so sorry!" He kept saying sorry again and again, clutching my arm. I gently removed his hand from mine, and pulled him into a hug. I couldn't bear seeing anyone like this.

"Ross, it's okay, you don't have to keep apologizing." I said softly, in the most calming voice I could come up with, "Aidan and Lee are perfectly fine. You saw them for yourself. It's alright now."

Ross didn't hug me back, just stayed there, crying. Finally, he pulled away and said, "But they had to stay the whole night in the maze because of me!"

I smiled and put a hand on his shoulder. "Ross. It really doesn't matter anymore. All that matters is that they're fine. And if what you said was true, then it wasn't really your fault, was it? It was the Creators, who were controlling you."

Ross wiped away his tears. I got a clear look at him for the first time, and I realized how young he was. He couldn't have been more than a year older than Aidan. His white blond hair was matted to his forehead in sweat, and his blue eyes shone with tears. He looked up at me with watery eyes and said, "They're going to banish me aren't they?"

I shook my head. "Like I said. If what you said earlier was true, that means you didn't do it. I don't think the keepers will see fit to banish you. And Ross, you really need to stop blaming yourself. Aidan and Lee are alright, and they've probably forgiven you. So just calm down okay?" I hugged him again. "It's gonna be alright, don't you worry."

~.~.~.~.~.

Kyra:

An hour later, I was sitting on a chair at the gathering. I had managed to calm Ross down, and now he sat on a chair opposite mine, looking slightly defeated, but not crying. I wasn't sure about the not-banishing-him bit, but it had seemed like the correct thing to say at that point. Aidan sat beside me, with Lee on the other side. They'd washed up well, and were now looking like human beings. Frypan had given each of them three sandwiches, Lee having wolfed down all three within minutes. She was now munching on one of Aidan's sandwiches, as he himself still nibbled lightly on his first one.

Before coming here, I'd grabbed a glass of juice from the kitchen, and as I waited for the meeting to start, I looked at my reflection in the polished steel surface. I didn't even know what I exactly looked like. The surface caused a little distortion, but it gave me a brief idea. I seemed to have green eyes, much like Aidan's, and straight brown hair. I wasn't pretty, but I wouldn't call myself ugly either.

Newt came through the door, closing it behind him. The meeting had started.

He took his chair, and looked at Aidan. "Alright. There are quite a few things to be discussed here today, but we'll start off with knowing how you two managed to kill two Grievers in one bloody night, something that none of us here, spare Minho and Tommy, have been able to do in two shuck years."

Aidan must've understood Newt had been talking to him, because he stood up, uncomfortable with all the attention. He cleared his throat, and began to tell his adventures of the previous night, how they'd run the sections of the maze, how Lee had led them flawlessly, how they'd tricked the Griever at the blades, and finally how Lee had brutally killed the second Griever. When he was finished, once again, everyone stared at the duo with newfound awe.

I myself couldn't believe they'd done all that. And Lee… it was unimaginable, what she had done. I owed my brother's life to her. She had saved him, and I would surely thank her for that later on. Newt laughed. "Unbelievable. You two are the most surprising greenies we've had till now, except maybe Tommy. I can't believe you guys did that, all by yourselves."

Lee shrugged. "The Grievers had it coming."

Newt shook his head. "Alright. As far as I know these shanks, neither of them will accept a compliment, they're too bloody modest for that. But nonetheless, what you guys did was incredible." Words of agreement came from everyone in the room.

Newt looked at Ross. "Now, we've gotta decide what to do with this slinthead." Ross kept his head down, and didn't say anything, which was probably a good decision.

I stood up, and looked at Newt, silently asking for permission to speak. When he nodded, I said "We shouldn't punish him. What he said, the whole being-under-the-control-of-someone thing, it sounded almost exactly like what Lee had been through. And that means he didn't do it on purpose. I see no reason for punishing him." I sat back down, having completed my statement.

"I agree." Lee spoke up from where she sat. "Ross must've been controlled by the same people who controlled me. And if you guys didn't punish me for doing the klunk that I did, you shouldn't punish him either."

"But Lee," Newt said, "You attacked yourself. Ross attacked Aidan. And who's to say it won't happen again?"

"If that's the case, then you should also consider the fact that this could happen with anybody." It was Aidan who'd spoken this time. "First it was Lee, then Ross. It could be anybody next. You can't just keep punishing people, now can you? It's ridiculous."

Newt paused for a while, thinking. I could tell most people in the room agreed with us, from what they seemed to be whispering to each other. Finally Newt said, "What you say makes sense. Also, it doesn't seem fit to punish him after he's apologized so many bloody times." He looked around the room, at everyone present. "I say we have a vote. Those in favor of sparing Ross?" Almost every hand in the room went up, including mine. I could see Ross' eyes widen, as though he hadn't expected so many people to be in his favor.

Newt nodded, and spoke with a note of finality. "Alright then, that's decided. Now all that remains is this." He picked up the strange cylindrical object that Minho had dug out of the Griever's intestine. "Any ideas as to what this klunk is?" He passed the cylinder around. When it came to me, I examined it closely. It had a digital display on one corner, which showed the number seven, in red. Written on the other side were the letters 'W.I.C.K.E.D'.

"Wicked is good." I said. I handed the cylinder to Zart, who sat beside me, and looked over at Newt and Thomas. "That's what I heard in my memory. That could only mean one thing." I paused, thinking over what I was going to say next, "Whoever put us here, obviously made the Grievers."

Nods of agreement came from everyone seated, even Gally, though his nod was reluctant. But even after further speculation, nobody could determine what to do with the object. Newt sighed, keeping it back on the table beside him, once everyone had seen it. This discussion didn't seem to lead anywhere. The only possible solution, (as suggested by Minho) was to have the Runners take it back into the maze, and see what happened.

Newt was just about to call off the gathering, when Thomas spoke for the first time. "Hey Newt? I went into the Maze with Minho, and we found this. Think it might be important."

He handed Newt a sort of metal plate, with a few markings on it. Sitting three seats away from Newt, I couldn't make out exactly what it said.

"It was wedged inside the Griever's leg, the one Lee stabbed to death. We think the Creators might have put it there to tell us something." Minho added.

Newt was looking at the plate with obvious confusion. "It says WICKED is good. That's exactly what Kyra heard in her memory, but it doesn't tell us anything."

Thomas nodded. "I know. But that's not what is important. Look below that. It's faint, barely visible, but it's still undeniably there."

Newt peered at the plate closely, a new wave of confusion crossing his features."What does it say Newt?" I asked wondering what the confusion was for, and my question was answered immediately, when Newt handed me the plate, to see for myself. I looked at what Thomas had pointed out, and read out the words etched on the surface.

"The maze is a code."

**A/N: tun tun duuuuun! Sorry, but I couldn't resist adding a cliffhanger. Also, I had made a ridiculous error in chapter five, and it was so stupid, I wanted to slap myself for it. So I went back, and corrected it. It's not compulsory for your understanding of the story, but I didn't want to leave that out there. *sheepish grin***

**I couldn't find anyone to name Aidan after, so I just chose a name that sounded cool. Lee however, IS named after someone. Can anyone guess who? Review and tell me what you think, I'll give the answer in the next Author's note! I've given a hint in the chapter! **

**Also, thank you so much for reviewing, favouriting, following, or even just reading this. It means a lot. Really. *wipes tears*.**

**I hope you guys liked this chapter! Stay tuned!**

**A fellow Glader.**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: OMG double digit number of reviews! THANK YOU SO MUCH GUYS! Even one review motivates me to post the next chapter. I'm gonna end the story soon, like maybe after five or six chapters… I still have to decide. But I've plotted out the entire story, so I definitely will NOT be abandoning it. That's a promise y'all!**

**Embers To Ashes: Thank you so much for reviewing! I'm really glad you like my story, and also, YES, WICKED is good! And don't worry, I'm pretty much perpetually in a random mood. : ) **

**Also, like I had said in the previous chapter, Lee is named after a famous person. She's named after Tim Berners Lee, the bloke who invented a whole lot of things in the world of computers. So… Yep.**

**Dis: I hath not the mind of James Dashner. Thus, I do not own TMR. **

Kyra:

"The maze is a code? The hell does that mean?" Newt asked, no one in particular. Thomas let out a wry laugh.

"I'd think the meaning is fairly obvious." He said, "This maze, it's different. An exit isn't just _going _to open up somewhere. We have to approach it differently."

He'd barely finished speaking, when a voice interrupted him. "Y'all see what he's trying to do, right?" On locating the source of the voice, I found that it was Gally who had spoken. "First he breaks our rules, then he tries to convince us to abandon them totally." Thomas looked at Gally in a strange way, as if confused about what Gally was going on about.

Newt must've realized what Gally was saying, because he pinched the bridge of his nose with two fingers, an obvious gesture of exasperation. "You went into the maze Tommy." He explained, looking up at Thomas, "You're not a runner. It's against the bloody rules."

"Exactly. Finally, someone sees the truth. We need to punish this shank." Gally said. Minho rounded on him with an anger I hadn't known he'd been holding in.

"That's enough of your klunk Gally! I have had it with you and your attempts at trying to convince us to punish Thomas. The shank has done more than you ever have. He's braver than almost every single one of us here. And you know what? You have a problem with Thomas going into the maze 'cause he ain't a runner right? Well, we can solve that. " Minho said, drawing in a breath, "I nominate this shank to replace me as Keeper of the Runners."

The room, already silent, was plunged into speechlessness, at Minho's statement. It was something none of us had been expecting. Being chosen as a Runner was hard enough, and Minho had just nominated a 'greenie' to be their Keeper.

"Shut your holes, both of you!" Newt said, in an attempt to calm the air, "Alright." He continued, "Tommy? You can forget about being the Keeper of the runners. But we can't just have non-runners running into the maze whenever they feel like it. So let's just make this official." He looked at Thomas, his tone one of finality and authority, "Starting from tomorrow, you're a Runner." He eyed everyone seated in the council hall, save Gally. "Anyone against my decision?"

No one contradicted what Newt said. It made perfect sense to make Thomas a runner.

Gally shook his head. "Wow. This is unbelievable. You're all blind. You can't see what I can. This shank here?" He said, pointing in Thomas' direction, "Should be punished, and not rewarded."

Thomas got up from where he sat, startling all of us. "What is it with you huh, Gally? No matter what I do, you always seem to find me wrong." He said, getting up in Gally's face, almost as if he was challenging him, "At least I did something. What have you done huh? Aside from hide behind these walls all the shuck time."

Gally, taking up the 'challenge', stepped closer to Thomas, and now things were starting to heat up. "Lemme tell you something _Greenie" _Gally snarled, "You've been here one week. I've been here two years."

"Exactly." Thomas snapped, "You've been here two years, and you're still here. And now I've found a clue to help us escape, and you hate it, because you couldn't do anything. That's why you don't like me right?"

"No, I don't like you because you always pretend to be the bloody hero, and now, you've probably endangered our entire glade!"

Before Thomas could retaliate, Gally pushed him away, and punched him straight cross the jaw. Everyone stood shocked, watching, as the two got into a serious fight. Thomas came back at Gally, and threw a punch at his stomach. Gally grabbed Thomas' head, pulling him into a lock, out of which Thomas managed to squirm free. By now, people had snapped out of their initial shock, and were trying, in vain, to calm the two down.

The fight was happening right in front of where Aidan sat, and out of what must've been sheer curiosity, Aidan got up and put out his arms, trying to feel his way. His hand hit Gally's and he caught it. "Hey, Gally, stop!" He said, trying to put an end to the fight. I was about to warn him to back off, but it was too late. Gally shoved Thomas away, and in his rage, threw his next punch at Aidan. His fist connected with Aidan's temple, who fell to the floor, clutching his head.

Aidan swayed as if struggling to stay conscious. This mishap had given the other's time to restrain Thomas, who was being held back by Newt and Minho. I dropped to my knees beside my brother.

"Hey, Aidan, you alright?" I asked, then immediately realized how stupid that sounded. Aidan head was bleeding from where Gally had hit him. He was obviously _not_ alright. Nevertheless, he replied, "Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about me, stop those two before they beat each other's brains out." He cocked his head in the direction of Thomas and Gally and added, "I don't hear the sounds of struggle anymore. Huh, so you guys _did_ stop them."

I gave Gally a look of pure anger, who seemed slightly shocked to have hurt Aidan. "How could you hit a kid Gally? Aidan's blind, and he was just trying to help you. And _this_ is what you do to him?" I spat out. I didn't want anybody hurting my little brother. I wiped off the blood flowing down the side of Aidan's head with my sleeve.

Gally looked at Thomas with a venomous glare. "I won't spare you Greenie. You better watch that shuck back of yours." He turned away from us, and ran outside the door, leaving us speechless once again.

Ross grabbed a glass of water from the table beside Newt, and brought it to Aidan, who drank the whole thing. "You okay?" Ross asked, looking concerned. Aidan nodded, but I knew he wasn't all good. Gally was at least twice his size, and had hit him pretty hard. Ross on the other hand appeared to be a lot calmer. He seemed to have gotten himself together after he realized that we had forgiven him. I felt glad about that. He didn't deserve to blame himself for what had happened; he seemed like a good kid. I turned my attention back to Aidan, who was recovering from the blow.

"What the bloody shuck is WRONG with you people?" Newt demanded. "You're acting like bloody five-year-olds, ya know that?"

Thomas shook himself free from their grip. He wiped off the blood trickling from his mouth, and knelt down beside Aidan. "I'm sorry Aidan. I shouldn't have been so stupid. It's my fault you got hit, and I'm sorry for that." He apologized, putting a hand on Aidan's shoulder.

"You have nothing to be sorry for Thomas. Gally was acting like a klunk-head. Anyone would've done what you did. And it wasn't your fault that Gally hit him. You don't have to be sorry." I replied. Lee helped me hoist Aidan up, and provided him with support, for he still seemed slightly shaken from the blow.

"Clint, Jeff, take Aidan to the infirmary. Lee, you go with them. When Aidan's wounds are treated, meet us in the map room. We'll discuss this bloody thing there." Newt said, holding up the metal plate. He turned to Thomas with a stern look. "And you, Tommy, will do good to keep yourself out of fights like these."

~.~.~.~.~

Aidan:

My head throbbed from where Gally had hit me. I cursed myself for being stupid enough to try and stop a fight. I wouldn't have been able to do that with my eyesight, and without it, I stood no chance. I held my fingers over my temple, trying to stop the blood.

"Don't worry Aidan; it's not a big wound. Even the tiniest of cuts above the neck bleed a lot, so you don't have to stress. Here, take your hand off, and let us clean it." I heard Clint say. They pushed me gently down onto a chair, and I felt them dab a cotton ball on my wound. The medicine stung, but I kept quiet, letting them do their thing.

"I wonder what it means, 'the maze is a code'" Lee said, thoughtfully. I had almost forgotten the message on the plank. I had felt the plank for myself, after Kyra had handed it back to Newt. The plank itself wasn't big, but the words were as clear as ever.

I shrugged and said, "I dunno, but we'll discuss it with the others, won't we?"

"I'm kinda worried bro. things seem pretty jacked up, lately." She said, sounding worried.

I smiled in her direction. "Lee, we've killed two Grievers and survived a night in the maze. There's not much worse that can be thrown our way. Whatever will happen, we'll deal with it."

Lee laughed at my statement. "Well, seems like my enthusiasm finally rubbed off on you eh?" then after a small pause she added in a louder voice, "Ya hear that Creators? We're ready for whatever klunk you throw our way!"

**A/N: Hmmmm….. I don't know whether y'all will like this chapter or no… not much happens in this, but if I added the rest, it would have been way bigger than the normal chapter length. I promise to make the next chapter more interesting… or at least try to. I'm sorry if this was boring…: (**

**Please review! It makes me want to write more! **

**Gracias!**

**A fellow Glader.**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Holy. Mother. Of. God. I CROSSED A 1000 VIEWS! OMG I CANNOT BELIEVE MY OWN SHUCK EYES. The biggest thank-you to anyone and everyone who is reading this. I'm really really glad my story has been read by people. : )*infinity**

**Embers To Ashes: First off, I would like to thank you for reviewing my story. It makes me really happy, seeing even one more review! *Big fat grin* And I'm really glad you like Lee. I like her too. *high five*. So… yep. Enjoy!**

**Dis.:**

**Thomas: She does not own any of us. We all belong to James Dashner.**

**Me: *weeps***

**Aidan: It's okay… You own Lee, Kyra, Ross and me… cheer up.**

**Me: :)**

**Read on!**

Aidan:

I let Lee lead me towards the map room, from which I could hear voices. It seemed as though the people inside had already begun discussing the plate.

"Hey! Y'all started discussing the damn plate without us!" Lee said, as we burst through the door.

"Come sit you two. We haven't really gotten anywhere with this shuck thing." Minho said. I felt Kyra's hands grasp my shoulders and push me down onto a chair. I reached out and felt the table, and the papers, which littered the table-top.

"So? What did you guys discuss?" Lee asked. "Nothing much. We are all of the opinion that we ain't just gonna find an opening and prance back to our homes. But that's it, no one has any better ideas." Newt replied.

"Can I have the plate?" I asked. Someone handed it to me, and I ran my hand over it, my fingertips brushing over every detail.

"It's been made recently, the metal hasn't rusted. Its machine made, and from the depth of the engravings, I'd say it's a good strong machine. It isn't dented in any way, so it couldn't have been there by accident. It's in good condition, so someone must have put it in the Griever. It was definitely placed by the Creators as some kind of clue." I deduced.

"That's amazing…" I heard Kyra marvel. I felt heat rise to my cheeks, and placed the plate back on the table.

"Wicked is good." Lee said, wondering out loud, "It seems to me as though the Creators are trying to convince us that they're correct in putting us here."

"That's all well and good, but it doesn't tell us what clue they're trying to give." Thomas said, obviously thinking hard.

After another hour of discussion, we still didn't reach a solid conclusion. The closest we came to a solution was when Lee suggested that the maze patterns may form words. But that was quickly denied when Minho countered it, telling us that they had studied the maps for over two years, and never found any words.

Newt sighed. "This isn't going anywhere. We need more answers. We'll continue this bloody thing tomorrow, after Minho and Tommy come back." He directed his voice towards Thomas and Minho, who I assumed sat to his left. "Take the cylinder thing, and tell us what you find tomorrow. It's late, and almost time for lights out. This has been a bloody long day."

With that, the group adjourned.

~.~.~.~.~.

Kyra:

I had decided that I would sleep beside my brother for the night. I moved my sleeping bag over to where Aidan's was, and found that Thomas had arrived at the same decision I had. Aidan slept really close to the edge of the forest, and I found Thomas leaning against a tree, with Lee laying her head on his lap.

I lay down beside Aidan, and stroked his soft hair. He turned his head in my direction. Even when he was looking in someone's direction, his eyes were always at a diagonal to the ground, a clear sign of his blindness.

He smiled. "Hey Kyra."

"Hey Aidan."

"It's been a crazy day, huh?" He asked. I laughed in response. "All that matters to me is that you're still alive. I can't possibly ask for anything else." I replied.

Aidan closed his eyes, looking more peaceful than I had ever seen him. His breathing slowed down, and I could tell that he'd fallen asleep. I kissed his forehead and said, "Good night little turnip."

I looked over at where Thomas was, a few feet from me. I heard him humming very softly to Lee, who also seemed to be asleep. I smiled. "You hum well."

Thomas went slightly red. He raised an eyebrow at me. "Little turnip?"

I shrugged. "I guess we all have these little things that we do with our siblings, right?" I sighed. "I'm just so glad that they're alive. I thought I'd lost him you know?"

Thomas nodded. Of course he would know. I had no doubt that he had experienced the same feeling for Lee.

"I owe Lee my brother's life Thomas. I want her to know that. But she'll never accept it, so I'm telling you. Thank you. For saving him."

Thomas laughed softly. "I didn't do anything at all, but you're welcome from Lee's side."

He looked down at Lee's serene face. "Have you had a memory about… you know..." he stammered to an end, but I knew what he was asking. I nodded. "About Aidan? Yeah, I have."

I paused recalling the details. "I was young, about seven or so. Aidan was probably three. I was trying to get him to sleep. He asked me what the sun looked like." I stopped, choking on my words. A lump formed in my throat, threatening to turn into tears. "I couldn't even tell him that, because he didn't know what 'yellow' looked like." I managed to swallow the lump, along with the tears. "That's how I remembered calling him turnip."

Thomas nodded, looking sad. "I had one too. It was strangely similar to yours. I was about the same age as you were in your memory, and even I was trying to get Lee to sleep." He looked up at me. "There were noises outside; people were celebrating something. Lee and I had been sent off to sleep in our room. But Lee back then wasn't any different. She refused to sleep. Finally, I convinced her to lie down, and hummed this exact song. That made her sleep." He pushed Lee's bangs off her eyes.

I was surprised at how Thomas had managed to paint the memory so perfectly with his words. I realized this was the first proper conversation we had ever had together. "Why would the Creators leave us with a memory so… sweet?" I asked him.

He shrugged. "I don't know Kyra. I really don't know. All I know is that these two don't deserve to be in this place. They're too young, too innocent for all of this klunk. They deserve a normal life, not be stuck in here, battling Grievers." There was a moment of silence, after which he added, "I'm gonna get them out Kyra."

I smiled again. "No," I corrected. "_We're_ gonna get them out. And that's a promise." I told him. I turned away, snuggling inside my own bag. "Good night Thomas."

"Good night Kyra."

~.~.~.~.~.~.

Aidan:

I woke up the next day to someone vigorously shaking my shoulder.

"WAKE UP!" Lee screamed in my ear. I sat bolt upright. "What? What happened? What's wrong?" I burst out, sure that there must've been some reason for Lee waking me up with that urgency. She slumped down beside me.

"Nothing. Just wanted you to wake up fast." She replied. I groaned.

Lee grabbed my arm, hoisting me up. "C'mon. We have to go study the maps. Find the apparent 'code'"

We headed over to the map room. I realized that it felt hotter than it should have felt in the morning. "Lee, what time is it?" I asked.

"It's mid-afternoon. You slept like the dead, and Kyra practically ordered us not to wake you up."

I stopped in my tracks. "_WHAT?" _

Lee laughed. "Chill mate. Nothing much happened. Tommy and Minho have gone into the maze; we'll see what they come up with."

No sooner did she finish her statement, than the ground beneath our feet started rumbling. I heard sounds of crashes and explosions from the direction of the maze. They were faint, so they must've been in the interiors of the maze. Lee grabbed my hand, and started running to the doors.

"What's going on?" She asked when we reached the doors. "We have no idea, but it don't sound too good." Newt replied.

We decided to wait and see what happened. Sure enough, after barely fifteen minutes of waiting, I heard footsteps heading our way from inside the maze.

"What the hell's going on out there?" Newt asked, perplexed.

"We found a new passageway, we think it could be our way out." Thomas replied. This shocked everyone into silence. "Seriously?" Newt asked.

"Yeah, it's some sort of opening, something I've never seen before. We think it must be where the Grievers go during the day." Minho replied, panting slightly.

"Hold on," Lee said, "You're saying you found the Griever's home? And you want us to go in?" She laughed dryly. "No offense Tommy, but that plan sounds pretty suicidal."

"Their way in could be our way out, Lee. Think about it. They must come from somewhere, and this is the only real chance we've found in over two years!" Thomas said.

"Wait a minute. Tommy, I've heard some crazy plans in my day, but this may just beat them all. You're saying our way out is to go through the nest of Griever's?" Newt demanded.

"Correct." Minho concluded. I opened my mouth to voice my opinion, but was stopped by the sound of someone running up to us. "Guys?" I could make out Jeff's voice. "It's Alby. He's awake."

~.~.~.~.~.

Aidan:

We were all gathered around Alby's bed. I didn't know what state he was in, but Kyra told me that he was sitting silently, not saying a word.

"Hey Alby? It's me, Newt." Newt said. Alby replied curtly, "Where's Thomas?"

"Here." Thomas answered. He stepped over to where Alby was and spoke in a calming tone. "We found a way out Alby. We can go home."

I heard Alby's soft sobs. "We can't. We can never go back." He paused. "You were always their favorite, Thomas. Why'd did you come?"

I was now confused. Thomas had just informed Alby of the fact that we had discovered a possible escape route, and Alby had told us that we could never leave. My mind was spinning from all the wired stuff happening.

Suddenly, I heard cries and shouts coming from outside. Alby started sobbing harder, but we headed out to see what the commotion was for.

"What's happening?" Thomas asked someone. "The doors! They aren't closing!" Winston, I think, replied before running off.

Fear started settling on me. If the doors didn't close, the only barrier separating us from the grievers would be gone, and we would be left at their mercy. Lost in my thoughts, I didn't realize we had reached the doors. Lee pulled to a stop, and I pummeled into her. She steadied me and asked, "What are we gonna do?"

"Alright, Ross? Start barricading the doors to the homestead. We sleep inside for tonight. Minho, I want you to grab every weapon you can get your hands on. Lee, Aidan, you two stay inside the map room. Lock the doors and guard the maps." Thomas ordered. I heard someone running off, and could tell by the footsteps that it had been Ross and Jeff. There must have been a crowd of Gladers gathered near the doors. I turned in Thomas' direction. "Thomas, we can help!" I told him. I didn't want to be stuck inside a room like a coward, while all my friends risked their lives battling Grievers.

"You _are_ helping Aidan. We need someone to guard the maps. And try to work out the code while you're at it." Newt told us, agreeing with Thomas. "But Tommy-"Lee started. She was cut off by metallic sounds coming from inside the maze. Horror gripped me, as I clutched Lee's hand, ready to run.

The Grievers had arrived.

~.~.~.~.

**A/N: I'm sorry if this chapter was boring too. It sort of leads to the action of the next chapter… I promise to try and write it well. I might be writing a Percy Jackson/Harry Potter crossover, but I won't be leaving this. Please review and tell me if I should write the crossover or not… *happy smile***

**Oh and sorry about the cliffhanger. *evil smile***

**A Fellow Glader.**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Hey y'all! I'm sorry about that last cliffhanger, but here's the next chapter! Like I said, I will be ending this story like, maybe in five or six chapters… so yeah. But I WILL be writing a Percy Jackson/ Harry Potter crossover after this, so you guys can read that too. Enough with the babbling…**

**Embers To Ashes: I know, I hate reading cliffhangers too…. But I really couldn't resist. So here's the next chapter! Hope it's good!**

**minhosgirl: I'm so glad you like my fic! And the suspense! Enjoy!**

**Dis. : I've said this quite a few times, and I shall say it again. I don't own TMR. If I did, many more people would be alive at the end. **

~.~.~.~.

Kyra:

"ALRIGHT EVERYBODY HIDE!" Thomas commanded. Aidan and Lee started running off towards the map room, and Newt went with Minho to gather the weapons. Thomas grabbed my arm and pulled me along. The grievers had now entered the glade, and were shrieking, searching for victims. A Griever suddenly appeared beside us, and jumped on top of a boy, crushing him. We knew there was nothing we could do for him, so we kept running. My face burned with shame, because I knew I had just abandoned someone, but panic quickly overpowered conscience.

We ran to the grass fields, cowering in the shelter of the plants. Thomas shushed our little group. I crouched low, my fingers digging into the dirt. Zart was in front of me, looking around, scared out of his wits.

He didn't see the giant Griever tail open up above him, nor did he see the jagged teeth that lined each blade of the tail. The teeth, I figured, must've been used to grasp the victim tightly. Before I could shout a warning, the tail clamped onto Zart's back, pulling him off the ground. He yelled for help, but we knew he was gone. "ZART!" Thomas yelled.

I took his arm, pulling him up. "There's nothing we can do! C'mon!" I yelled, my voice coarse. We started running through the fields, blinded by the tall grass, but shielded from the Grievers. The plants slapped me in the face, and I knew I would come out of this with multiple bruises. We ran clear of the grass, and Thomas yelled, "Alby!"

Alby had just lumbered out of the forest, looking disoriented. I didn't know what he had been doing in there, but now was not the time to investigate. Clint and another boy took him by the arms, holding him up.

"C'mon! We need to get to the Homestead!" Thomas yelled. We turned to run, and found our path blocked by two Grievers, mouths frothing in expectation of their next prey.

I was outraged. Not only had these things stormed our glade, but they had claimed the lives of countless Gladers. I looked around for a solution. There lay a jar, filled with the light of a fire, fuelled by the oil. It wasn't much but it was all I had. I grabbed it, and with a defiant yell, threw it at the Grievers, instantly setting them ablaze.

The fire confused the Grievers, and set the course clear for us. I ran for all I was worth; the only goal I had now was to reach the homestead. I could hear the Grievers advancing, but I didn't dare look back. My feet ached from running, but I ignored the pain, focusing on my destination. Thomas ran beside me, with the same amount of concentration.

We were not more than thirty yards away, when Alby tripped. Getting stung must have taken its toll on him for he looked more exhausted than the rest of us. Clint and the other boy helped him up, but this had given the Grievers time to advance on us. My first instinct was to run, but I stood my ground next to Thomas. "C'MON!" He yelled at the Grievers, holding out his knife, which looked awfully small compared to the size of the enemy.

The Griever spun its metallic legs, and advanced towards us. I braced myself for the impact, and was expecting to be mauled, when out of nowhere, a spear pierced the head of the Griever. I looked to the side, and saw Minho, Newt and the other run up to us. We turned back in the direction of the homestead, and continued running, other Grievers now hot on our tail.

Ross and Jeff were holding the door to the homestead wide open, trying to tell us to hurry up. The Griever was almost on top of us, when we reached the doors. Ross pushed everyone inside, but the Griever had reached us. It reached out with its tail towards me, but Ross pushed me through the door, and the tail clasped onto his back. He let out a scream of pain, and I reached out, trying to grab his arm, but was too late. The Griever pulled its newest victim away, his screams still ringing in my ears. The other Grievers obscured them from my view, but I knew he was gone.

Someone grabbed me from behind, pulling me inside. I knew I was screaming my head off, but I didn't care. Thomas closed the door behind us. I collapsed on the ground, tears streaking my face. I had just seen my friend die in front of my eyes. Too many emotions welled up inside me. Fear of the Grievers; worry for my brother, who I assumed had reached the map room; despair for the friends I had lost and helplessness, for I knew that the enemy overpowered us in every way.

The Grievers gave us no time for feelings. They banged against the door, trying to get through. I stood and, along with everyone else, retreated to the back of the hut. The metallic whirring of the Grievers slowly faded, and for the first time, it seemed as though they had decided to spare us.

I should have known better than to hope for mercy. Two feet to my side, a Griever's tail smashed through the roof, and pulled free the pole holding it up, bring down the entire section of the ceiling, making a gap big enough for any person to be yanked through. The tail descended, and aimed at the person standing beside me, who also happened to be my closest friend. Newt looked up in horror, as the tail unclasped, revealing the jagged teeth.

I didn't think twice before acting. I grabbed Newt's shoulders, swinging him around, out of harm's way. The Griever's tail clamped onto my back instead, and I yelled in agony. The teeth dug into the flesh of my back, shooting tendrils of pain through my entire body. I was pulled up by the Griever, but Thomas grabbed onto my hand, stopping me. Newt held my other hand, pulling me back. I was now hanging in mid-air, pulled by the two sides; one trying to save me from the other. I had become the rope in this deadly game of tug-of-war.

"Kyra don't let go!" Thomas yelled. "NO SHIT!" I screamed back.

The teeth were now expanding inside me, increasing in length. I yelled again, red spots dancing in front of my eyes. The boys were holding me back, but the Griever was much more powerful. Just when I thought they would be overpowered, the tail jerked. I turned my head with difficulty, and saw Alby yelling in defiance as he struck the Griever's tail repeatedly with an axe. The stinger dropped free, severed from the rest of the body. Alby kept hacking at the tail, and finally, the grip on my back loosened. I fell to the floor, as the tail was retracted through the opening.

I touched my back, where the teeth had sunk in, and on bringing my hand back, I found my palm covered in thick red blood. I fought a wave of nausea, but was glad to be alive. I turned to Alby.

"Thanks." I croaked out. Alby nodded, panting.

Most of the people had their attention on me, and for that very reason, no one saw the tail come back through the opening. My eyes widened in terror, and I yelled out a warning to Alby, but once again, was too late. The tail grabbed him and pulled him through the void. He desperately reached out and caught the edge of the roof remaining, but I knew he was too weak.

Thomas leapt up, trying to grab Alby's arm, screaming, telling Alby to grab on, but Alby must've accepted his fate. He looked at Thomas, his eyes grim and determined, and spoke three words, which sent a chill through my back.

"Get them out."

With that, the Griever pulled him away. Thomas yelled through the opening, but Alby was gone. He turned towards us, his expression shocked and slightly crazed. Then, before any of us could argue, he raced towards the door, and burst out of the homestead.

"Thomas don't go out there!" I heard Minho yell, but he had already dashed out. Seeing to the fact that he wasn't immediately engulfed by Grievers, I stood up, supported by Newt, and walked to the door. I stole a glance at Newt's face, and felt a pang of sympathy. Newt was broken by Alby's death, though I could see he was putting on a brave face. I turned away, shutting my eyes, refusing to let the tears flow.

I stepped out of the homestead, and looked around in horror at our glade.

The slicer house was had been shattered. Corpses littered the floor, but I knew many more than these had died. The Grievers must have dragged the other bodies away with them. The forest had multiple trees burning. But on looking about twenty yards ahead, I saw the most horrifying sight of all.

The map room was fully ablaze.

I wasn't close, but I could make out the fact that the door was still closed. If Aidan and Lee had gotten out, they wouldn't have bothered closing the door behind them; which could only mean one terrifying thing.

"AIDAN!"

**A/N: I hope I could write this chapter well. I don't want to be an insult to the action in the movie. This part was from the movie, 'cause the book would have taken too long. But the map room thing was from the book, so yep. Please review and tell me your opinions! They mean a lot to me! Also, please tell me how you think I can improve my writing! **

**Stay tuned amigos!**

**A fellow Glader.**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: HOLA! Here is ze newest chapter, and I hope I've not made it dull. I've been looking forward to writing this, and I really don't want to mess it up. Also, and I know this sounds **_**REALLY**_** lame, but I decided to choose an actor for Aidan Lee and Kyra, because, well, why not? I thought Sterling Knight could be Aidan, Paloma Kwiatkowski would be cool as Lee, and maybe Georgie Henley or Marie Avgeropoulos for Kyra? I really don't know why I added this, but please tell me what you guys think of my choices! They may not be good, I know, but… yep. I don't even know why I'm saying all this, it makes no sense. *face palm* **

**minhosgirl: I really do try to update fast, so as to not leave y'all hanging… and we see what came of the duo here. * grins***

**Embers To Ashes: Oh yeah… now that you pointed it out… oh well! I'll go back and change the chapter then! Thanks for pointing it out! I'm glad that I didn't mess the action up. *wipes sweat* phew!**

**poasoianne: Thank you! I hope you enjoy the rest of the story as well!**

**Dis.: The maze runner and all of its characters belong to the old noggin' of James Dashner. **

Aidan:

"ALRIGHT EVERYBODY HIDE!" Thomas yelled in a commanding tone. I didn't hesitate before grabbing Lee's arm. She knew better than to argue, and she pulled me towards what I was sure was the direction of the map room.

"Aidan RUN!" She yelled back. I didn't bother replying. We were sprinting at full speed now, and I could hear what sounded like one Griever on our tail.

"Keep running straight!" Lee said. I knew what she was about to do, but I wouldn't let her stay back and fight the Griever. I refused to let go of her hand, and she must've known this wasn't the time to quarrel. I heard her throw open the door to the map room and shove me inside. I didn't let go of her hand, forcing her to come in. She shut the door behind her, just as the Griever slammed into it.

I held my breath, my heart pounding so hard, I thought it would have hammered right out of my rib-cage. The Griever's sounds slowly ceased, and I could hear the clicking of the metallic legs fade, as the Griever went away from us. It must have lost interest in chasing two skinny kids. There were apparently more interesting targets. I silently thanked all the gods above.

I didn't relax though. Any moment some other Griever could come bashing through the door. I stayed perfectly still, clutching Lee's hand so hard, I was afraid I'd stopped the blood circulation in her palm. I could hear her ragged breathing, right beside me.

I began to relax; my pounding heart stopped racing. Lee let go of my hand, and sat down on a chair. I reached out and felt the edge of the table, leaning against it.

Suddenly something banged against our door, and I heard Lee jump to her feet.

"Aidan, stay out of the way. If that thing comes in, I can try and distract it. If you run out, you may stand a chance." Lee said, her voice low. I rolled my eyes. I wasn't going to leave her in the hands of a Griever while I ran away like a chicken. "Shut up Lee." I replied.

She started to say something, but I cut her off. "No seriously, shut up." I was listening more intently to the banging now, and realized the absence of the metallic sounds of a Griever.

"Lee, that's not a Griever. I don't hear the clicking of the legs. It's a person, probably seeking shelter. Open the door." I ordered her.

"Aidan, if that thing is a Griever, then we could die." Lee informed me, as if I didn't already know. But for once, I was sure of what was going on.

"Lee, trust me. That's a person. Hurry up and open the door before they die. Please mate, just trust me on this okay?" I told her. I heard her sigh softly and walk towards the door.

"Aidan, if I die, this one's on you." She said before swinging open the door. I flinched in anticipation, but Lee confirmed my guess. "Alby!" she said.

I heard her shut the door behind her. "Alby? What're you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in the infirmary?" I asked. When I didn't get any answer from him, I stepped over to the table and felt about for a chair. My fingers found one, and I pulled it towards myself, ready to collapse onto it. No sooner did I sit down, than Lee let out a yelp of surprise. I turned my head in her direction.

"Alby? What the hell are you doing?" She was saying. I sprung up from my chair and moved towards the sound of her voice. "Lee" I asked, "What's going on?"

Lee completely ignored me. "Alby, just stop okay? Stop right there. Don't take another step forward. You're being controlled. Just STOP!" She yelled. Now I was freaking out. If Alby was being controlled, there was no saying what he might do. I ran forward, but I had misjudged their location badly, and I rammed straight into a wall. I cried out in pain, but my cry was drowned out by Lee's screams. I didn't know what Alby was doing to her, but whatever it was, it couldn't have been good. I heard something repeatedly being pounded against a wall.

"Alby stop please!" Lee screamed. I once again tried to reach her, but her screams stopped, and I heard her fall to the floor. My heart skipped a beat.

"LEE!" I yelled. I dropped to my knees and began feeling the floor for her, when someone grabbed me by my neck, and hoisted me up.

"Alby you're being controlled! Snap out of it!" I yelled, in an attempt to jolt him back to reality. It was of no use. Alby was much more powerful than me, and I stood no chance. He gripped my hair, threatening to pull it out of its root and I screamed. I thrashed about; trying to free myself, but Alby caught my arms with his other hand, and twisted them behind my back, sending pain shooting up my body. I was screaming at the top of my lungs, trying to stop him, but I was too weak.

"ALBY DON'T DO THIS!" I yelled. Tears were streaking my cheeks now, and my head felt like it was being severed from my body, for Alby was yanking me forward by my hair. I was disoriented, and didn't know where he was taking me. I tried punching him, but like all the others who were controlled, Alby felt no pain.

The edge of something hit my thighs, and I realized Alby had dragged me till the table. He raised my head high, and in that instant, I knew what he was going to do to me. I cried out in pure terror, but there was no stopping him.

He smashed my head onto the table with all his power.

Pain engulfed me, and I screamed even louder, if that was possible. I was sure my head was bleeding, and I was fighting against my own body to stay conscious. Alby raised my head again, and repeated his actions. Blood trickled down the side of my head. I kicked out with my legs, wailing. My head hurt so bad, it made the pain of Gally's blow seem like a pinch. Alby smashed my head again and again, with more force each time. After about four hits, my body decided to give away, falling in a heap to the floor. I could feel my face covered in blood; I could taste its coppery taste on my lips. I was on the verge of unconsciousness, but I was struggling with every ounce of willpower. I tried saying something, but my energy was exhausted.

My troubles weren't over yet, not by a long shot. I could smell the distinct odor of gasoline, and I froze, realizing what Alby was going to do next. I tried to scream, but my voice wouldn't work. I reached out, but my hand only went about a meter before falling slack. I heard Alby step over to me. He pulled my head up my hair again, and I let out a weak yelp. He spoke in a monotonous voice, which confirmed that he was being controlled.

"Don't worry. They'll find you. You won't die."

I remembered smelling smoke from the far corner of the hut, before I passed out.

~.~.~.~.

Aidan:

I woke up to the panic of being burned alive. I was still groggy from Alby's hits, but from the amount of smoke that I smelt, I decided that I had been unconscious for roughly five minutes. I tried screaming, but my throat was raw from smoke inhalation. It wrapped around me like the tendrils of a vine, suffocating me; sucking the life out of me.

Heat scorched my body. It wasn't hot enough to be fire, so I suspected that the fire was set on the walls of the place, slowly making its way towards us. I was already blind, so the smoke didn't add much to that, but that also meant I couldn't find Lee. Panic took my mind as I harbored the thought that maybe she'd already fallen prey to the flames. I got onto my knees, using all the energy my body would provide. I felt the ground, and started shuffling around, trying to find Lee. I couldn't yell her name; the smoke had taken care of that.

I pulled my shirt over my nose to keep the smoke from being inhaled, and continued my search. My head was spinning, threatening to fall unconscious again. I couldn't let that happen.

"Lee." I croaked out. My voice sounded like a hoarse toad, and it hurt me to speak. My shirt provided slight protection, but the smoke continued to rob my lungs of the ability to breathe oxygen. I ran my hands over the ground, and suddenly, felt as if my arm had been dipped in lava. I pulled away hastily; I knew I had ventured near the region of fire. I was crying now, for I was sure that my best friend and I would die right here in this inferno. Something fell from above, bringing with it a fresh wave of heat. A flaming section of the ceiling had fallen to the ground, not far from where I was. I made my way around that, carefully avoiding it.

Suddenly my hand hit a body, and I pulled closer. It had to be Lee; there hadn't been anyone else in the room. I felt her head, and blood covered my hands. Alby had hit her much harder than he had me, which was why she was still knocked out. I held her hand, and started crawling towards what I thought would be the centre of the room, away from the flaming walls, dragging her limp body with me. I smelt something smoldering, and on feeling the ground, I found it most of the heat near Lee's pants. The hem of her leg was on fire. I rapidly tried to beat out the flames with my hands, burning them in the process. I didn't care, I only wanted to make sure my friend was safe. Another part of the ceiling fell, this time much closer. I reached the table, leaned my head against the leg, and closed my eyes, warm tears running down my face.

Just when I thought this would be the end, the door to the room was thrown open, and I heard people running inside.

"Aidan!" I heard Newt's voice. My tears turned to ones of joy, for I knew help had arrived. Newt hoisted me up, and put my arm around his neck. He started leading me to what must've been the door, but I resisted. "Lee…" I managed. I wouldn't leave my friend behind, not for anything.

"It's okay, Tommy's got her and Minho's helping them." Newt assured me. I stopped resisting, and let Newt lead me out of the flaming house.

A much welcomed breeze struck my face, and I knew I had made it out of the room, alive.

~.~.~.~.~.

Kyra:

The map room was burning to the ground when we reached it. I cried out my brother' name, but got no response. Panic overwhelmed me. I couldn't lose my brother. I rushed forward, but someone held me back.

"We'll go. You stay put." Newt said. He didn't give me a chance to argue before he kicked down the door. He rushed inside, followed by Thomas and Minho. Smoke billowed out of the open doorway, veiling the events taking place inside. I balled my hands into fists, nails digging into my palms as I waited to see my brother.

Newt appeared in the doorway, supporting Aidan. Aidan's head was bleeding from the side, and the blood covered half his face. He coughed violently, and I took him in my arms, stroking his back.

Thomas and Minho lumbered out after them, half-dragging, half-carrying Lee. I could tell immediately that Lee was unconscious, and also knew the reason. Lee's head was fully covered in blood; she must've been hit harder than Aidan. I could barely make out her features beneath all the gore. Thomas dropped her to the ground, and checked her wrist for a pulse. He exhaled a sigh of relief, and I knew he must've found one. That meant both of the kids were alive, and that was all that I needed for now.

**A/N: hehe. I really hope this chapter was good. Please please please review! Every review means so much to me! **

**Gracias!**

**A fellow glader.**


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: Hey gladers! I'm back with the newest chapter. I'm trying to update as fast as I can, but this one might be a little late. I had been writing my other story, which is a Percy Jackson/Harry Potter crossover. Please please please please please check that out too, it would mean a lot to me, really. :')**

**minhosgirl: thank you so much for the compliment! I really like reading the reviews… they make me very happy!**

**Embers To Ashes: They were hit pretty hard eh? Thank you so much for reviewing! I hope you like this chapter too…**

**Dis.: I have not had the good fortune of owning TMR. It belongs to James Dashner. **

Kyra:

"That's a shuck lotta blood." Minho said, looking at Lee. The blood was running down her forehead, from a deep wound. It seemed as though someone had hit her head hard against something. I wasn't a Med-Jack, but I knew that a gash like that would definitely need stitches.

Newt turned to Jeff and Clint, who were banged up, but fine on the whole. "Take these two inside. Do what you have to." He told them. Immediately Clint took Aidan from me, slinging his arm around his neck. Jeff and another boy whose name I couldn't remember picked Lee off the ground, and started dragging her away to the homestead, which was somehow still standing.

I dropped to my knees. Newt knelt down beside me, and put a comforting hand on my shoulder. We were silent for a while, taking in the events of this horrifying night. I looked at him.

"Newt, I'm so sorry, about Alby." My words sounded weak, even to me. He looked down, and I could see tears within his eyes. He was desperately trying not to cry, trying not to seem weak in front of all these people.

"Guys, leave us alone. Our glade is in shambles. Grab anything you get your hands on, and start fixing this place up. Put out the fires, mend the fields. Work has to be done, and ain't nobody gonna come down here and do it for us." Minho ordered the others, who ran off to put our glade together. Thomas took out the stinger that Alby had severed, from inside his pocket, and curled his fingers tightly around it.

"C'mon guys. Let's go wait outside the infirmary for any news on those two." He said.

~.~.~.~.

Kyra:

We had been waiting outside the infirmary for a while now, almost two hours. Clint had assured us that Aidan and Lee would make it, but they would only let us in when the two had gained consciousness. I had my head in my hands, as I waited to be let in.

Clint came out the door and nodded curtly. He looked really grim, but at least he'd let us in.

I pushed open the door which Clint had shut behind him, and walked over to where my brother was. He was lying on a bed beside Lee, his head bandaged. He looked fine, definitely better than Lee. He smiled in the direction of the door; he must not have known we had come in.

Thomas sat beside Lee's bed, and held her hand. I flinched after seeing her state.

She also had a bandaged head, but there was a deep cut on the side of her head. She was clearly in pain; her smile was a small one. The neck of her T-shirt was soaked in blood and her eyes looks worn out. She was as pale as milk; even her lips seemed devoid of any color.

"That's the third T-shirt I'm losing 'cause it's soaked in blood." She managed. Her joke got a few laughs, but Newt got straight down to business.

"What happened in there?" He asked.

"That's not important. The maps are gone, we don't have anything left." Aidan said. His voice was hoarse, just like Lee's. The smoke had affected him very badly. Newt shook his head. "No, the maps are safe."

Aidan looked confused, seeing which Newt added, "Alby warned us to protect the maps one day when he was coming out of the Changing. So Minho and I moved them to the basement of the homestead. They're perfectly safe. Now tell us what happened."

Aidan, hesitated, then replied, "It was Alby."

I covered my mouth with my hand. I couldn't believe what my brother was saying. Alby had attacked them? That couldn't be possible.

"He was being controlled." Aidan added, "Just like Ross and Lee had been. He smashed Lee's head against the wall, and mine against the table. Then he set the place on fire. But before doing that, he told me that you guys would find us. But his voice was without any emotion, which proved that he was being controlled."

Lee lifted her head slightly, and looked around. "Hey, where is Alby anyway?" she asked.

"Dead." Newt replied. The two kids looked shocked, hurt and scared all at once. "So are Ross, Sam, Joe and a bunch of others. I lost count." Newt continued. I didn't know the other two, but the mention of Ross' name sent a pang of pain through me.

"Oh my gosh…" Aidan whispered.

"What about Gally?" Lee asked, looking as though she didn't really want to hear the answer. Minho spoke up. "Gally disappeared the day he had that fight with Thomas. No one's seen the shank since then."

"Guys… I'm sorry." Thomas said from the corner. His fingers tightened around the stinger. "It's my fault that all this happened. Alby's dead, and it's all my fault. Gally was right. I've ruined everything." He looked shocked, hurt, even.

"Thomas?" I asked tentatively, unsure of what he was planning to do.

"I need to remember Kyra." He said.

He raised the stinger high, and plunged it into his stomach.

"THOMAS!" I screamed. Lee yelled his name too, and tried get up. Aidan was turning his head from side to side, trying to understand what was going on.

"Jeff get the grief serum!" Newt commanded. Jeff threw open a cupboard, grabbed something from inside and ran over to Thomas' quivering body. He was shaking violently, as if he'd had a seizure. Jeff plunged a needle into Thomas' arm, and the quivering stopped, as Thomas fell unconscious. I picked his head up in my arms, and felt his neck. I found a steady pulse, which guaranteed that he was alive.

"Shift him to that bed. He should wake up by tomorrow morning; we administered the serum almost immediately." Jeff said, then sighed. "We're gonna run out of beds in this darned place."

Newt and Minho picked Thomas up, as I narrated the events to Aidan. His eyes grew wide. "Is he okay?"

"Yeah."

Lee was straining to see what had happened to her brother, but I gently pushed her head back down onto the pillow. "He's fine Lee. Sleep for now. You'll talk to him in the morning, okay?" I assured her.

She must've been exhausted, for she didn't argue. Instead, her eyes closed, and she fell asleep almost immediately. I went over and sat beside Newt, in front of Thomas' bed.

"You should go get some sleep too. I'll wake you up once Tommy is awake." Newt told me. I smiled. "I'm not going anywhere Newt. I'm gonna stay right here, and wait for that klunk-brain to wake up. I owe him a punch for putting us through the worry."

~.~.~.~.~.

I had fallen asleep after all, leaning my head against the wall of the infirmary. Newt shook me awake.

"Is Thomas awake?" I asked, before I had even opened my eyes. Newt shook his head. "No, but it was morning, so I thought you'd wanted to be woken up."

I nodded. Newt cleared his throat before adding, "Thank you."

I raised my eyebrow. "For what?" I asked.

"That griever would have gotten me, if you hadn't saved me. And for that you got those wounds. I didn't know what to say to that, so I settled for a thank you. I would probably have been dead if it wasn't for you." He told me, his brown eyes sad. I patted his back. "I would never let a friend die." I said.

Just then Thomas opened his eyes, and Minho rushed over to his bed, beckoning us forward too, not that we needed to be told. I took a chair beside his bed, and sat down, stroking his hair out of his face.

"Hey, how're you feeling now?" I asked. Thomas didn't reply, just got up into something of a sitting position. Lee led Aidan off his bed, and the two of them occupied two chairs on the opposite side of the bed. They both looked much better, some color having returned to their faces after the night's sleep.

Thomas however, seemed as if he had seen a ghost. "What the hell were you _thinking_?"Lee asked, glaring at him. He looked at each of us, his eyes scared and shocked. It wasn't just fright though, that I saw in his eyes. There was another expression too. Guilt. I didn't know what had happened, but whatever it was, it had hurt Thomas badly; mentally as well as physically.

Thomas turned to me, and Newt, who stood above me, looking down at Thomas. His eyes cleared of their fright, and he blinked. He sat up straight, from the half sitting half lying posture, and spoke in a clear voice.

"Guys." He said, "I remember."

**A/N: Sorry if it's short, this was just the part where he remembers, so the next one will hopefully be better. Once again, I request everyone reading this to please read my other story. It would make me really happy. *smiles*. THANK YOU to anyone and everyone reading this right now. Please review, even if this chapter was short and uneventful…**

**Gracias!**

**A Fellow Glader.**


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: Ahoy, mi amigos! I'm sorry about the last chapter, if it was boring. And I'm also sorry for this, 'cause it doesn't have much of action in it either. But the action will come soon enough. Also, I wanted to ask y'all to please please please please check out my other story, if you haven't. It's called 'The Path of Warriors' and it's a Percy Jackson/Harry Potter crossover. Please read that too, it'll make me really happy. I can't promise that it's good, but please give it a try. :)**

**Embers To Ashes: That's okay… every review makes me even more motivated to post the new chapter. Thank you once again for reviewing!**

**Dis.: I'm getting tired of saying this. I don't own TMR.**

Kyra:

"What do you remember Tommy?" Newt asked, pulling himself a chair as well.

"Guys." Thomas said, looking guilty, "Gally was right. He was right so far."

"What're you talking about?" Minho asked, voicing all of our confusion. Thomas drew in a breath and continued.

"This place, it's not what we thought it was. It's not a _prison_, it's a _test_. It all started when we were kids, the Creators, they'd give us these challenges. They were experimenting on us. I don't know why, but they said we held the key to saving the world."

I could see Newt and Minho's features scrunched up in concentration.

"And then, people started disappearing. Every month, one after the other, like clockwork." Thomas added.

"They were sending them up into the maze." Newt deduced. His expression was a mix of anxiety, worry and shock. Our past was being revealed to us, and I could feel my own emotions go for a ride.

Thomas sighed again. "Yeah, but not all of us."

"What do you mean?" Newt asked again. Thomas looked up at him and Minho.

"Guys, I'm one of them. The people who put us here, I worked with them. All this time you were here, I was on the other side of it." He turned his gaze to me, and said the worst thing yet. "So were you."

"There was another girl with us, called Teresa. She must've been the one you had seen in your memory. She'd been our best friend, and she'd worked with us. With the Creators. For some reason she didn't get sent up here." He added.

I put my hand over my mouth. Tears started forming in my eyes. I somehow knew that Thomas was telling the truth, but it was not something I wanted to accept. "Why would they send us here if we were with them?" I asked, my voice breaking.

Thomas shook his head. "It doesn't matter."

"He's right." I looked beside me to find that it was Newt who had spoken this time. He looked angry, but the anger didn't seem to be directed at us. "It doesn't matter. Any of it." He continued, "The people we were before the maze, they don't even exist anymore. These bloody Creators took care of that. What does matter, is who we are now, what we do, right now." He looked at Thomas. "You went into the maze, and you found a way out."

"Yeah but if I hadn't, Alby would still be alive." Thomas said. The hurt was evident in Newt's eyes, but he didn't show it in his face.

"Maybe." He said after a pause. "But I know that if Alby were here, he'd be telling you the exact same thing." Newt got up from his chair, and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Pick your bottom up, and finish what you started. 'Cause if we do nothing, that means Alby died for nothing, and I can't have that."

Thomas seemed to get himself together on hearing Newt's words. "Fine, but we need to figure out the code first. The cylinder thing, it's a sort of key, which will unlock the door to the Griever Room. We solve the code, and then we can get out." He said, already getting up from the bed.

"Minho, get the maps from the basement. The map room is rubble. We solve the code here." Newt commanded.

~.~.~.

Kyra:

Minho had gotten a table from the mess hall, and spread out every single map of the last one month. The patterns made no sense to me, but Aidan and Lee ran their hands over every single one, nodding thoughtfully.

"Try placing them side by side. See if the patterns spell words." Thomas suggested. We did as he was told, placing the daily maps of each section adjacent to one another, like Thomas suggested, but they made no words. Minho rubbed his eyes. "Thomas, I don't think you know how much we've studies these maps. You think we wouldn't know if they spelt _words_?"

"I have an idea." Aidan said quietly, as though he thought we'd wave it off.

"Spill it." Minho said.

"You've been comparing the map of the current day, with the map of the same section the day before. But what if we compared all the maps of one day, of all the sections with _each other?"_ Aidan told us. I could tell this wasn't something they hadn't thought of before, because Newt and Minho quickly moved aside all the maps, sparing eight.

"These are the maps of yesterday." Newt informed us.

We repeated the method Thomas had suggested with these eight maps, but once again, had no result. Newt slumped down in his seat, looking frustrated. "Are you sure the Creators aren't just trying to trick us with this whole 'maze is a code' thing? We could search our eyes off, and find no result."

Thomas shook his head. "No. They wouldn't go into all the trouble of embedding that plate in the Griever for a trick. There must be a code; we're just not looking hard enough."

Minho stared at him incredulously. "Not looking hard enough? Thomas, we've studied these shuck things for two years, and you're saying we didn't look hard _enough_?"

Thomas held up his hands in surrender and said, "You studied these a lot Minho, I agree. But you were looking for an exit. You looked hard, but not in the correct way. We have to change our perspective of searching."

Minho looked like he wanted to argue, but he was interrupted by Aidan's voice. "What the heck?" Aidan said. I looked at him, and saw that he was running his hand over a map, which was overlapping with another. He must've gotten a strange pattern because of that.

"No, Aidan, the maps are overlapping, you're getting a wrong pattern." Lee corrected him, and moved the maps properly, so they no longer overlapped.

Thomas's eyes widened. "Aidan, that's IT! You're a GENIUS!" He exclaimed. Aidan looked surprised, as did everyone else. "What're you on about?" Newt asked.

Thomas dashed out of the room, heading towards the kitchen. "Butter paper!" he called back, as if that explained everything. I looked at Newt, who seemed to be thinking hard. From beside me, Lee laughed, shaking her head. "That's brilliant. Simply brilliant. I knew Tommy was clever, but that's just amazing." She said. She must've understood Thomas' plan, which wasn't something I could say for the rest of us. Before I could ask her to explain though, Thomas ran back inside, and dumped five rolls of butter paper on the table, grinning wildly.

"Frypan wasn't happy about me taking all his Butter paper, but when I told him what it was for, he obliged." Thomas informed us. He took his seat, and grabbed a pair of scissors. "Cut these into squares the size of those map sheets. Then trace the patterns onto this paper. Make sure the pattern is exactly the same." He ordered us.

"Thomas, this is ridiculous." Minho told him, looking skeptical. "Just do as the Greenie says. I think I see where he's going with this, and Lee's right. It's bloody brilliant." Newt answered for Thomas.

I decided not to argue, and began cutting up the butter paper. Once I was done, I traced out the map of section five onto it, taking care not to make a single mistake. Once all the eight maps had been traced out, Thomas asked us to hand them over. He lay each of them on the table, one on top of the other, and the patterns formed a whole new set of lines. Lee gasped, and I peered at the maps, trying to find the reason. It didn't take me long.

Right in the centre, was the letter 'F'.

It was faint, made up of lines, but still undeniably there. Minho let out a laugh. "Holy shuck Greenie."

Newt grabbed a bunch of maps, and assigned each of us with sections. I was in charge of tracing out the maps of sections five and six onto the butter papers.

It took us a while, but eventually we traced out most of the maps. Thomas piled them up, every day being one separate pile. We looked at the second pile, and sure enough, there was the letter 'L' gazing up at us.

Now excited, we began doing the same thing with all the other piles.

~.~.~.~.

We had been studying the maps for over three hours now, and our discovery couldn't have been more specific.

The maze kept repeating the words _float, catch, bleed, death, stiff_ and _push_, in that specific order. Once we reached the word _push,_ the maze would go an entire week without showing any word. Then it would start all over again.

I couldn't help but grin. Even Minho was smiling; Aidan and Lee looked overjoyed.

Thomas sat back, and exhaled. He looked up at us, his eyes shining with anticipation.

"We're finally getting out."

~.~.~.

**A/N: Again, my apologies if this chapter was also boring. The ones after this will have action, that's a promise. Also, once again, a big thank-you to anyone who is reading this. I'm very happy after seeing so many views, and I would request all of you to please give my other story a try. Pretty please? Thanks again!**

**A Fellow Glader.**


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: I AM BACK! Like I said, this chapter will be one of action, and I seriously hope I've done justice to it. I've been looking forward to writing this, and I don't want to mess it up. Also, if you already haven't, please check out my other story! It's called 'The Path of Warriors' and it's a PJO/HP crossover. That would make me real happy. :)**

**Oh yeah, and one more thing. This chapter will switch between third person POV, and first person POV. So… yep.**

**Embers To Ashes: I suppose you're correct… GO AIDAN! Thanks for reviewing!**

**Dis.: I am not James Dashner. Therefore I do not own TMR.**

~.~.~.~.

Kyra:

I stirred my cold cereal. I wasn't hungry in the least. The task ahead loomed over us like a dark cloud, and with one glance, I could tell no one else was in the mood to eat either.

Newt had called a gathering previously, and informed the Gladers of the code words and the Griever Nest. We were going to go through tonight, and Frypan had insisted that we each have something to eat.

Somehow my stomach didn't agree with him.

My hands were shaking, and I couldn't stop the nervous tapping of my feet. Aidan and Lee sat across me, looking slightly anxious. Their heads were still bandaged, but they insisted that they were fine.

"Kyra, we'll make it." Newt said, but he sounded like he was assuring himself, not me. I looked up and nodded. I tried clearing my mind of any emotion; that way fear wouldn't get the better of me.

Today everything would end. One way or another.

~.~.~.~.

Third Person POV:

Almost every Glader had gathered near the East wall. Some had decided to stay back, having disagreed with the solution. Newt respected their choice.

Minho had everyone equipped with at least one weapon, with the exception of Aidan and Kyra. Her job was to take the key till the door, run inside, and do whatever she had to with the codes. Thomas would accompany her, making sure nothing on the inside attacked her. The others, in the meantime, would fend off the Grievers.

Kyra refused to let Aidan touch a weapon, insisting that he accompany her. He was to stick with her at all times. She couldn't risk him getting hurt.

Thomas tried in vain to convince Lee of the same. Lee had a part to play, and it was to make sure the others were safe. Finally they came to a standstill. Lee would be inside, protecting them from the dangers that lay in wait.

Everyone's hearts were in their throats. Kyra gripped the key so tight, that her knuckles lost their color. Newt turned to Minho. "Aren't you supposed to be giving a pep talk?"

Minho shrugged. "Be careful. Don't die."

Newt rolled his eyes. "Great, we're bloody inspired."

Thomas cleared his throat, stepping up. He held his javelin tightly, beads of perspiration dotting his forehead. He had proposed this solution. It only made sense that he said something before all of them ran into battle.

"I'm not trying to scare you. You already are scared, alright? I'm scared. But we finally have a chance to get out. This place, it isn't our home. We can go back." He looked at Newt. "We lost many friends, but we won't let their sacrifices be for nothing. We're gonna honor them by getting out." He raised his javelin in the air. "WHO'S WITH ME?"

The entire crowd of Gladers roared in approval, and Thomas turned towards the entrance of the maze.

"Alright. Minho, you lead. Kyra, Aidan, Lee and I will be at the back. Newt, you stay behind us, take up the rear." Thomas sounded like a leader, just the way he should have.

People fell into formation, just like he'd said, and started running into the maze.

~.~.~.~.~.

Third person POV:

They had reached the Griever's nest, when Minho stopped just outside it. Thomas made his way forward, and stole a glance inside. A Griever was standing in front of the entrance, clicking its mechanical legs in anticipation. He turned back to the group, his face deathly pale.

"Is it a Griever?" Lee asked. Thomas nodded.

"Alright Aidan, you stick with me. Don't leave my side. Got it?" Kyra's question was more or less rhetorical.

"Alright. Whatever happens, we get through this, we stick together. We get out now." Thomas took a deep breath. "Or we die trying."

He pounded his weapon against the floor and let out a defiant yell before charging into the Griever nest.

Everyone yelled in unison, as the Griever started running towards them, its legs rotating. It grabbed a boy and flung him off the edge.

Everyone stood on a five meter wide roadway connecting the Door to the glade. On either side of the path, darkness descended into the unknown.

Every Glader had their weapon dug deep into the Griever's body. "PUSH IT OVER!" Minho yelled. The griever dug its legs into the ground, trying to get a support.

"Kyra, go!" Thomas yelled. Kyra nodded, and grabbed Aidan's hand, preparing to make their way to the door, when they found their path blocked by another Griever. It swiped at them with its legs, cutting a gash in Kyra's leg. She did her best to shield Aidan from the Griever, but against something that huge, she wasn't much of a protection.

"RUN!" Lee yelled from behind them, running forward and burying her spear in the Griever's head. It turned its attention on her, leaving Kyra and Aidan free to run till the Door. Lee took a deep breath, and grinned manically at the Griever.

"I've killed you once before. Imma do it again." She said, almost under her breath. The other Gladers had succeeded in pushing the Griever off the cliff, but dozens more were climbing up the walls of the roadway, making their way up.

Lee stabbed downward with her dagger, dodging the Griever's legs. She started to run, but tripped and fell, the Griever coming at her again. She started at the approaching predator with wide eyes. The Griever must have sensed it victim's weakness, and it jumped on top of her, only to have the bronze tip of a dagger sprout from its back. Lee grinned cruelly. Her trick had worked perfectly. She had kept her dagger pointed straight up, and the Griever had pounced on top of it, literally impaling itself. The only problem now was getting the thing's body off her.

Thomas grabbed her by the arms, pulling her out from under the corpse. All around them, the battle raged, but all that mattered was that Aidan and Kyra unlocked the door.

"Go Tommy! We got this!" Newt yelled. He stabbed a Griever, who had run a boy through with its leg. Newt's hand was bleeding, but he didn't seem to care. The Grievers overpowered the boys easily, but the boys made up for it with ruthlessness and skill.

Minho was also facing troubles of his own. He kept stabbing at the Griever in front of him. He pierced its head with his javelin, and it retracted, wailing. But that wasn't the end of it.

From somewhere above him, a Griever dropped on top of him, using its massive weight to flatten Minho on the ground. Minho was being squashed; he couldn't even scream for help. The Griever snapped at his face, and Minho used his javelin to lock its jaw. It pressed downward, its slimy face now touching Minho's. He was sure his time had come, when suddenly, from somewhere behind him, someone yelled and stabbed the Griever in its head. The javelin ran through the Griever's head, and pierced Minho's chest slightly; not enough to hurt, but enough to draw blood.

The Griever pulled off Minho, retreating. The only problem was that the javelin was still in its head, and when it retreated, it carried the owner with it. Minho made out Jeff's form, clinging to the javelin and screaming, but within moments he was gone; hidden from view by the multiple Grievers. Minho had no time to spare for emotions. He readied his own weapon, and charged.

~.~.~.~.

Kyra:

Behind us, I could hear the screams of countless Gladers, joined by the shrieks of Grievers. I wanted desperately to know what had happened to them, and I was going out of my mind, worrying for Newt, Minho, and all the others out there, who were risking their lives, so that we made it till the Door.

The four of us stood in front of it, as it opened up, the key having now turned from red to green. The moment the gap was wide enough for a person to fit through, I ran inside, only to encounter a complete absence of light.

I heard the others pile into the room after me. "Dang, this place seriously needs a light bulb." Lee muttered.

Suddenly, three meters from where we were standing, a computer screen came to life, illuminating our surroundings. I looked around in horror.

All around us, Grievers were coming to life, emerging from what I could only describe as coffins. Their slimy skin was unmistakable; the hideous faces still scared the jitters out of me.

"Kyra, go to the computer. You probably need to type in the code words. Lee and I will hold the Grievers off." Thomas ordered, keeping his voice low. I gripped Aidan's hand, and slowly started making my way to the computer.

"Kyra, we're gonna die, aren't we?" Aidan whispered, squeezing my hand tighter. I smiled. "It's gonna be okay, turnip. Don't you worry."

I reached the computer, and found a chair in front of it. I quickly took my seat, and began typing the words.

Float, catch, bleed, death, stiff, push.

Behind me, I could hear the sounds of Grievers, but none of them seemed to be attacking just yet. I glanced at them, and saw that Thomas and Lee had their backs to us, holding out their weapons protectively.

BEEP!

The sound made me jump, and I turned my gaze back to the computer screen. It said: Error. Password incorrect.

"Thomas, this thing needs a password! It's not the code words! I tried those." I cried. Thomas looked my way, bewildered. A Griever came towards him, but it was sluggish.

"MOVE!" Lee yelled at me, shoving me aside. She took my place, and furiously began typing, her fingers flying across the keyboard. The screen changed, becoming something I'd never seen before.

"What're you doing?" I asked. "Hacking." Lee replied curtly, "I remembered the fact that I could hack in some memory. I don't know how, I don't know why. Now ain't the time to think about it either. I'll give it to you straight though, I'm basically going by instinct." She didn't take her eyes off the screen, rapidly entering strings which made no sense to me.

The Grievers weren't so sluggish anymore, and with Lee at the keyboard, Thomas had to defend us on his own. Luckily, Minho came bursting through the door at that moment. He looked around, and decided not to ask any questions.

"HERE!" Lee ordered, jumping off the chair and grabbing her weapon, "Enter the words now, I managed to cross the password level."

I didn't waste time marveling, but Lee continued to surprise me. For a thirteen-year-old, she was a wonder. I looked at the screen, and began typing the code words again.

Float, catch, bleed, death, stiff, push.

The first five words were being accepted by the computer, but every time I typed the last, it would disappear. "Thomas! It isn't letting me type the last word!" I cried.

Thomas didn't ask for an explanation; he was too busy stabbing a Griever's head. Lee on the other hand, rolled out of the way just in time, as a Griever leg slashed through the air. She pointed to something on the wall. "Try that button!" My eyes lifted to where she was pointing, and I saw it.

A large red button marked 'Kill The Maze'.

"KYRA PUSH IT!" Thomas yelled.

~.~.~.~.

Aidan:

"KYRA PUSH IT!" I heard Thomas' voice over the shrieks of the Grievers. I heard Kyra's chair crash to the floor, then her footsteps heading off to a far wall. I stood huddled near a corner, as Lee, Thomas and Minho risked their lives fighting Grievers. I couldn't put in words how useless I felt at the moment, but I knew any attempt at helping would only give them something else to worry about.

I heard something slam into a wall, and assumed Kyra had just pushed the button with all her might. I expected the Grievers to drop dead immediately.

No such thing happened.

The mechanical sounds of the Grievers didn't cease. I could still distinctly hear them, and could make out the movements of the Grievers.

And one seemed to be coming straight at me.

Fear seized me. I knew I couldn't move anywhere, being stuck in a corner. I now knew what it felt like to be a 'helpless cornered animal'. Every muscle in my body felt like it was turning to lead. My legs seemed to suddenly weigh a thousand tones. I braced myself for death.

It never came.

The Griever's sounds had been awfully close, when the air in front of me shifted, and I heard the sickening '_shick_' sound of the Griever leg piercing a body. I felt a slight poke of a tip in my gut. At first I was mildly confused, but then the horrifying realization hit me.

Someone had taken the blow for me, the Griever leg having run them through.

And Thomas' wail that echoed through the room a split second later left me no doubt as to who that person had been.

Lee.

~.~.~.~.

**A/N: Ummm… please review? *weak smile***


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: I won't say much. I don't really think I can, after the last chapter. But in my defense, I'll say that I did originally declare that my OCs would be in Chuck's place. And, well, I'm gonna shut up now. **

**Embers To Ashes: Honored? Honored is an understatement. I went a little loopy when I saw your review, and it made me so un-put-in-wordably happy! As for Lee… um… I can't really say anything there, but… sorry? *weak smile***

**Dis.: I don't own TMR.**

~.~.~.~.

If only the Grievers had shut down when I had pressed the button. But no, it seemed as though the Griever wanted to claim its last victim.

With a final jump, the Griever leapt at my brother, and I watched from the side, knowing only too well that I was too far to be of any help. I wanted to cry out, but my voice wouldn't work.

Suddenly Lee came from nowhere, barreling in front of my brother. She reached there just in time, and the Griever leg went through her stomach, poking Aidan slightly behind her. Thomas let out a blood-curling wail, as he ran forward to his sister. The minute the leg pierced Lee, the Griever dropped to the ground, dead.

Lee pulled the leg out, a small squeak escaping her lips. She started to fall, but Thomas caught her, sinking to his knees. He cradled her head in his arms, crying. Aidan seemed shocked into silence, as he knelt beside Thomas. Lee was doomed. I knew that for certain. There was nothing we could do for her. But that didn't make the pain of her loss any less. I walked over to them, and put my arm around Aidan. I was also crying; the sight of Lee's broken form wrenched my heart.

Gladers poured into the room, happy at first, only to be silenced by the scene. I looked at Minho, to see that his lip was quivering, and he had his eyes shut, as if he wanted to bottle up his emotions. Newt saw our situation, and walked up to us, his face being streaked with tears. He took his place behind Thomas, looking at Lee.

"These bloody Grievers." Lee said, blood spewing from her mouth as she talked. "Why can't I ever wear something without it being covered in blood?" She laughed weakly, and a new wave of tears fell from my eyes. She didn't have much time left. She looked at Minho and Newt. "Get out of here. All of you." She sighed. "I'm sorry guys."

She turned her gaze to Aidan, whose mouth was still hanging open, as if he couldn't quite process what had happened. "I'm sorry Aidan." She said. She turned to Thomas next, and drew in a final shaky breath, a hint of a smile on her face.

"I'm sorry Tommy."

Then she was gone.

"NO!" Thomas yelled, holding Lee close, "NO, LEE GODDAMIT, DON'T DO THIS!" He was crying harder than I had ever seen anyone cry; his sobs were like a knife through my heart.

Aidan reached out and touched Lee's lifeless face. "Lee?" he said, tears spilling over his eyes. His expression morphed into one of pain and misery. "Lee? Lee? LEE! LEE!" He yelled her name over and over again, shrieking, howling. But Lee was dead, and no amount of mourning would bring her back.

I don't know how much time passed before Minho took Thomas' shoulders. Thomas' sobs were now muffled, and Aidan simply sat there. I knew Lee's loss had torn him apart from inside, but I also knew that we had to leave.

"C'mon Thomas. You heard her. We have to go." Minho said, softer than I thought he was capable of. Thomas slowly let go of Lee, placing her head gently on the ground. He got up, and nodded.

"You're right." Was all he said. I pulled myself and Aidan up, holding his hand tightly. He didn't resist. It was almost as if Lee's death had taken away all his emotion, and now he was empty. His expression was blank, and he let me lead him to the door that had opened up opposite the one we had come through.

Thomas reached the door, and turned the handle. He stole one last glance at Lee, and I could see the pain in his eyes. He was keeping himself together for us, because he knew we saw him as something of a leader. He couldn't afford to be weak. He looked away, and shut his eyes. He walked through the door.

We followed him, only to find ourselves in a long corridor, blinking lights dotting the walls.

"Hello?" we heard a muffled voice, coming from behind a door, somewhere to our left. "Anyone there?"

Thomas ran in the direction of the voice with us on his heels, and stopped outside a blue door. "Teresa?" He called, his voice breaking. He clearly was shattered by Lee's death, but also clearly was trying not to show it. The door was bolted from outside. There was no high-tech mechanism, just a simple bolt. Thomas removed it from the lock, and pushed it open, to reveal a girl about our age, sitting in a bare room. There was nothing to the room, save four barren walls.

The girl flew at Thomas and wrapped him in a hug. "Tom!" she said, before pulling away.

"Teresa." Thomas turned to us. "Guys, this is the girl I told you about."

I recognized her from my memory. She had long black hair, and electric blue eyes, which took in all of us, one by one. She smiled at first, but her smile quickly faded. "Where's Lee?" she asked.

Thomas turned away, refusing to show his pain. Our expressions must have spoken for us, because the girl put her hand over her mouth, tears already forming in her eyes. "Oh my god…" she said.

Thomas turned back to us, his eyes red.

"We need to go that way." He said, pointing off to his right. He started walking in that direction, without waiting for our response.

"C'mon guys. We have to get out of here." Newt told our group, and we followed Thomas, Teresa tagging along. I somehow trusted her. I had seen her in my memory, and if Thomas trusted her, which he seemed to, I did too.

Thomas finally stopped in front of a door, above which, in bright green letters, the word 'EXIT' stared back at us. I had no doubt that Lee would have made some sarcastic comment at this.

"Seriously?" Frypan tried to make up for Lee's absent sense of humor, his words carrying half-hearted sarcasm.

Thomas turned the knob, and pushed open the door.

Inside, bodies littered the floor. A man was slumped against a wall, blood splattering the surface behind him. Numerous other bodies greeted us inside. The room itself was lined with high-end computers, holographic screens surrounding us.

Thomas walked up to a keyboard, facing the screen in front of his, and looked down at the keys, he must've remembered something from a memory, because he reached out a pushed a key, and the screen came to life.

On it, was a lady who looked to be about forty. She had blond hair, and was wearing clothes that were completely white. I recognized her from my memory as well.

"Hello." She started. "My name is Doctor Ava Paige, Chancellor of the World In Catastrophe: Killzone Experiment Department."

_WICKED_, I thought. I looked at Newt, and saw him staring intently at the screen. I turned my attention back to the lady.

"If you're watching this, it means you've successfully completed the maze trials. I wish I could be there in person, to congratulate you. But circumstances seemed to have prevented it. I'm sure by now you must all be very confused, angry, frightened. But you will soon know, that everything that's happened to you, has been for a reason."

I stared at her in disbelief. How could all this be for any reason? What could possibly be the reason for torturing us the way they had? My question was answered almost immediately.

"Sun flares have scorched our world." The screen changed, showing us scenes of destruction, death and carnage. Buildings were on fire, bodies burnt to dust. The lady continued talking.

"The fallout was unimaginable. What came next, was worse." The screen changed to a man lying on a hospital bed. His condition was so revolting, that I turned away, refusing to see more. When I turned back, the screen had changed to the lady again.

"A deadly virus called the Flare was released. It attacked the brain, rendering the being to something less than an animal. But after years of waiting, an answer emerged. A new generation was born, that could survive the virus. Finally we had reason to hope for a cure. But finding it would not be easy. The young would have to be tested, even sacrificed." Behind her, people came in carrying guns, shooting at anything they saw.

"It may be too late for us; for me. But it's not too late for you." She took out a gun and held it to her head. "Remember. WICKED is good."

The gunshot was loud and clear. The screen went blank, and I looked at Thomas, who seemed to be transfixed onto the blank screen.

"What do we do now?" I asked.

"I don't know." He shook his head. He seemed strangely disoriented, and I knew Lee's loss had shaken him up much more than I previously though. He started to walk towards what seemed to be a door, when from behind us, a voice came.

"Stop."

I whirled around, and found myself facing Gally. He'd been stung, and for the first time, seemed to be crying. I didn't know how he'd gotten in, but now was not the time to wonder. He held up a gun, and pointed it straight towards Thomas.

~.~.~.~.

Aidan:

For the entire time the lady had been talking, my mind had been on Lee. I felt empty, as lifeless as her corpse had been. She'd been my best friend, my sister. Now she was dead, all because of me. I knew for a fact that I would never be able to forgive myself, as long as I lived. I was snapped away from my thoughts by another voice, one which I recognized to be Gally.

"We can't leave Thomas." He said. I knew from the direction of his voice that he was somewhere in front of us.

"Yes we can Gally. Just put down the gun." Thomas replied. That's when I knew that Gally was holding a gun, which must've been pointed straight at Thomas.

"No." he said. I realized he was going to shoot Thomas, and made a split second decision. Lee had given her life for me. Now was the time to return the favor.

"I belong to the Maze. We all do."

He pulled the trigger, just as I threw myself between Thomas and the bullet.

The gunshot echoed around the room. Before I could even cry out, the bullet entered my body, and pain exploded in my chest.

~.~.~.~.

Kyra:

I watched helplessly as Aidan put himself between Thomas and the gun, the bullet penetrating his chest. Minho had a javelin buried in Gally's body a fraction of a second later, but I had eyes for only Aidan, who collapsed against Thomas. He fell to the floor, and Thomas took his head in his arms.

I now knew what Thomas had felt, when Lee died. I sank to my knees beside them. My heart felt like it was being ripped from my body. The red stain on my brother's shirt grew bigger, and he took my hand, smiling lightly. His green eyes seemed far away.

"Hey, it's okay. I'm fine with this. At least I know I died for a good reason." He said. Thomas seemed to be going into shock, his mouth hanging open, tears once again falling from his eyes.

"Aidan…" He managed, his voice cracking.

Aidan smiled, "I'm really just sad about one thing."

My brother was dying, and I couldn't do anything about it. I wanted to cry and rage, but all I did was look at him, as he slowly drifted away. He tilted his head back, and spoke his final words.

"I'm just sad that I could never see the sun."

Then he closed his eyes for the last time, as life left his body.

~.~.~.~.

**A/N: I'm not even gonna say anything…**


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE! PLEASE READ!**

**Right. So, this is NOT the last chapter of this story. I will not be writing a sequel, so I decided that I would write a sort of epilogue/envoi (wink wink power of five reference, if anyone got it)/ something of an ending. It will be taking place in Death cure, and it will be from Kyra's POV and… I'm babbling again. Long story short, this isn't the ending, the next chapter is. Please read that too. Also, if you already haven't, please check out my PJO/HP crossover! That would make me real happy :) This chapter is really short. And I mean really short. But the next one will be pretty long. Oh, and a slight heads up. I stink at angst. So this chapter probably won't be that good. So yep!**

**My response to Embers To Ashes and minhosgirl, who reviewed the previous chapter, is that I'm really sorry. I know, it was horrible, but that's how I had thought of the plot. But I'll try to be nicer in the end. I won't kill off anyone else… most probably.**

**Enjoy!**

~.~.~.

Kyra:

"Aidan?" Thomas croaked out, his voice raspy. "AIDAN!" He wailed, and it chilled me to my bones. He started howling, not only for Aidan, but also for Lee. His sentences didn't make sense; they were warbled noises of pain.

I couldn't see anything else but the corpse of my brother, which lay in front of me. After all this time, after all I thought I had done to protect him, I had ended up losing him anyway. I wasn't going to do the thing I did last time, try to kill myself. The sight which my eyes saw did that for me. I was being hollowed out, every nerve in my body screaming. I was in shock. I couldn't believe Aidan was dead, and yet, his lifeless body lay there.

I was vaguely aware of people rushing in and ushering everyone out. Thomas refused to let go of Aidan's body. He was a mess, sobbing and screaming all at once. The people grabbed him by the arms, and started dragging him out.

I felt someone's arms hold mine, and they pulled me up. "Kyra, we have to go." I heard Newt's voice, full of sadness. I didn't resist. I didn't have the determination to do so. My brother's death had taken away every last drop of resistance in me. I staggered, as Newt pulled me away from Aidan. Somewhere in the back of my head, I knew these people were trying to help us. I let Newt drag me out into open air, and I was blinded by sunlight. The door to the room started to close, and that was when I snapped.

Something broke inside me, and I started thrashing. I struggled against Newt with all my strength, kicking and punching. "I CAN'T LEAVE HIM!" I cried, tears running down my face. Newt didn't say anything, just did his best to restrain me. I couldn't think, I could only feel the pain of loss. I didn't want to be taken away from my brother. My screams were barely comprehendible; they may not even have been a proper language. All I wanted was to be with my brother.

I didn't know what crime we had done. All we wanted was a normal life. Aidan had been thirteen, too young to be suffering through all this. And yet, when we had even the slightest slimmer of hope, that hope had been snatched away from us. Aidan was a kid, he didn't deserve any of this. But fate was cruel. When I thought that maybe, just _maybe_ we could live in peace, Aidan had been ripped away from me. I wasn't in much of a better state. He was the one to have died, but I was the one who felt lifeless; without any feelings.

My throat was raw from screaming. The door closed, shutting me away from Aidan, once and for all. I didn't give up struggling, even though the tiny streak of rational thought that was left in me told me that Newt was just trying to help. My eyes hurt from the light of the sun, and I had cuts all over my hands from trying to get away from Newt. I didn't even bother to see what state had become of him, while trying to stop me from running away.

My hair parted from behind, due to the force of some wind. I could hear the rotating blades of a helicopter. I finally stopped struggling, my energy exhausted. I didn't have the will to struggle anymore. I collapsed in the sand, and continued to cry. Newt lifted me by my shoulders, and practically tossed me inside the chopper, coming in after me. A man outside closed the door behind him, and we lifted off the ground.

I brought my knees close to my chest, and buried my face in them. My tears wouldn't stop; and I had no intention of stopping them. From somewhere beside me, Minho whispered "Holy klunk…"

I looked up, to see everyone staring out the window. I followed their gaze, and lost my breath. We were now above the maze. The whole thing spread out below us, and I could see every wall, every turn. I had no idea that place had been so huge; it must have cost millions just to construct it. Seeing the place sent a wave of nausea through me. That place had taken away some of my closest friends, and looking at the expressions of the others, I could tell they were feeling the same thing. I turned my gaze to Thomas, who was staring out the window with a defeated expression on his face. He caught my eye, and choked out, "We promised…"

I closed my eyes, a new round of tears falling down my cheeks. Thomas and I had promised Lee and Aidan that we would get them out of the maze. We had failed both of them. It felt as if someone had taken a pair of tongs, and poked my heart multiple times. I looked at Thomas again, and even though he wasn't showing it, I knew what had happened. He was broken. Lee's death had shattered him, and Aidan's loss had added to that. This was a scar neither of us would be able to lose.

~.~.~.~.

Kyra:

The next few hours were a blur. We reached a sort of building, and were told to wash up. After we had cleaned up nicely, they had given us food, which I didn't touch. I didn't feel like doing anything at this point of time.

Finally, they'd given us bunk beds to sleep in. They had assured us that they were helping us, and somehow, we believed them. Teresa had been taken to another room, but I had been left with the boys. Newt occupied the bunk above mine, and I crawled into my own bed. I wasn't crying anymore; I had no tears left. Aidan's death had robbed me of all emotion, and now I was left barren.

"Hey Kyra?" Newt called down from above me. I didn't respond, but he continued. "I can't really say much, after what's happened, but I just wanted to say, Aidan gave his life so that we could get out. The best way to honor that is to survive whatever these people throw at us. Otherwise his sacrifice will be in vain." He sighed. "I'm rubbish at consoling."

I agreed with Newt wholeheartedly on everything he'd said, but I didn't feel like talking. The wound in my heart was fresh, and it would be a while before I got back to normal, even though I knew I could never fully get back. This wound was not one that could be healed. "Go to sleep Kyra. Who knows what tomorrow holds for us?" Newt said finally.

I turned in my bed and closed my eyes, my thoughts being only of Aidan.

Maybe we _had_ gotten out of the maze. But the price had been too heavy.

~.~.~.~.

**A/N: Once again, this is NOT the final chapter, so please don't think the story ends here. The next chapter will be the final chapter, so please read that. That will be the proper ending of the story. Yep… that's about it. Please review!**

**A fellow Glader.**


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: WARNING!**

**DO NOT READ THIS CHAPTER IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE DEATH CURE**

**IT CONTAINS SPOILERS**

**MAJOR ONES!**

**Right then. So this is the final chapter of this fic, and I'll try not to make it sad… I think I owe you guys some happy things… But, I want everyone who has favourited, followed, or even just read this to leave a review for the final chapter… please? I'm not sure if this chapter will be good, but I hope it is! :)**

**Embers To Ashes: Oh my gods, I can't even tell you how nice your review was. I want to thank you for reviewing almost every chapter of this dam (wink wink PJO reference hahaha I've gone mad from happiness) story. I don't know if I'll be able to write another fic, but if I do, I promise to make it even better than this one. And for all your reviews, here's a big fat cookie. (:::) **

**This takes place in Death cure, just before Pg. 250. I decided there were some things I wanted to change in chapter 55. Thus I wrote this. Oh, and a thing I wanted to say. This is sort of an AU, alternative ending, I don't even know what. But Newt's condition is not as bad as it was in the book. Just wanted to say that.**

**Enjoy!**

~.~.~.

Kyra:

I drove my teeth into the apple I was holding. The juice ran down my chin, and I wiped it off with my fingers. Beside me, Newt attacked some berries. We were living off fruits and roots, since the only other option was to starve to death.

I held my head, and let out a cry. "IT HURTS!" I yelled out. Newt looked over, but didn't say anything. He really couldn't. I could feel the things moving inside my head, slowly eating away my brain.

We were infected, you see. WICKED had told us we weren't immune, like the rest of our friends. That meant that the two of us had caught a deadly virus called the flare. It consumed feelings, and turned human beings into something less than an animal. Finally, the virus would eat away our brain.

We were slowly heading there. About a week ago, we'd gotten to know that we weren't immune. We'd been on the run ever since, with Thomas, Minho, Jorge and Brenda. But we couldn't have stayed with them. With the flare eating away our brains, we could have accidentally hurt them. We'd been taken to a Crank palace, but there we had been surrounded by other infected people.

Thomas and the others had come to take us back, but we had refused. We didn't want them to suffer because of us. However, I couldn't stay there any longer, surrounded with those people. Finally, seeing no other option, Newt and I had run away to this jungle. We waited, slowly going mad. Feeling the virus creeping over our conscience.

We weren't Gone yet. That meant we hadn't fully fallen prey to the virus. We weren't completely mad yet, but we were dangerously close.

It was nighttime. The moon shone above us, looking beautiful, quite contradictory to our disgusting situation. We finished the rest of our food in silence. I looked at Newt. His hair, usually a light blond, was now dirty and brown. His face was covered in filth, and his clothes were ripped in certain places. He'd been thin before, but now, one could count his ribs. His face was covered in bruises. I probably didn't look much better.

I stood up. "Where you going?" Newt asked. "More berries." I replied. Newt nodded and looked away, and I headed into the bushes.

My big mistake.

I was picking some berries off of a bush, when I heard the tires of a jeep squeal. Thinking it must be another lost tour jeep, I went back to picking my food. I finished my job and was heading back, when I heard raised voices. One I recognized to be Newt. The other made a chill run through my bones.

Thomas.

What in the world was _he_ doing here? I dropped the berries I was holding, and started to run back, but tripped on a vine. I fell, and pain shot up my leg. I knew I had twisted my ankle, and this mishap had delayed me. The voices were now yelling. I ignored the throbbing in my legs, and started limping towards the voices. I was going as fast as I could with the injured leg, but unfortunately that wasn't fast enough.

I reached the opening, and what I saw brought fresh horror to my pounding heart.

Newt had Thomas pinned on the ground. Thomas' fingers were wrapped around a gun, which Newt held to his own forehead. I could see Thomas' hand shaking.

"KILL ME!" Newt yelled, "OR I'LL KILL YOU!"

"NO!" I yelled. I couldn't lose Newt. He'd been the only barrier between the flare and me, a friendly presence. If I lost him, I would be as good as dead. I started running forwards, going as fast as my wounded leg would carry me.

"KILL ME!" Newt yelled again, "Please Tommy. Please."

I hurled myself at them. Thomas's finger slowly pulled the trigger. I couldn't think of any other way. My fingers wrapped around Newt's shoulders, and I pulled him away with all the strength I could muster, using the force of my momentum as an addition, just as Thomas fired the shot.

The two of us rolled away on the other side. Thomas didn't look back. He immediately got up, and started running back to the jeep, _refusing _to look back. The Jeep set off.

Newt lay beside me, panting hard. I'd pulled him away in the nick of time, the bullet slicing open his shirt sleeve, but not drawing blood. He stood up, and so did I.

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?" I screamed.

"I can't live like this anymore Ky. Slowly going mad, watching as the flare makes us its victim-"

I cut him off by throwing my arms around him, sobbing. "NOT AFTER AIDAN!" I yelled, "I can't lose you I can't lose you I can't lose you" I kept repeating those words, over and over again. Newt didn't say anything, just stood there, stroking my hair.

After what seemed like an eternity, I finally let go. I stopped repeating the words.

"Why?" I asked simply, my voice breaking.

"Because I can't live like this." Newt said again, "I can't sit around slowly losing humanity, letting the flare turn me into an animal."

"THEN DO IT FOR ME!" I screamed. I grabbed his shoulders. "What do you think I'll do if you're gone Newt? You're my best friend, the only person I have left. If you're gone, I'm as good as dead."

"What if I hurt you Ky?" Newt demanded, but I knew his resolve was breaking. He agreed with me. We were all we had left. Our entire family was the two of us. "I don't care. You're not going to leave me alone. If I'm going to go crazy from an infection, I won't go crazy alone."

I must've struck a nerve, for he looked down, as though he realized his mistake. I took his face and made him look at me. "And if you try to kill yourself again, I swear to god I'll be there. And I'll save you. I'm not letting my best friend desert me. So you promise me right here, right now, that you're going to stick with me. It doesn't matter that we're going to go crazy. Friends don't abandon each other."

I hugged him again. "Promise me Newt."

He patted my back and nodded. "Okay. I promise."

~.~.~.~

Kyra:

Weeks flew past. Our condition grew worse day by day. I could almost feel the flare taking control of our minds.

Some days I'd wake up, and find my teeth clamped onto my wrist, bite marks all over my hands. Other times, I would scratch my face and arms raw for no apparent reason. I lost my grip on sanity sometimes, but was soon able to regain it.

Newt wasn't any different. One day I caught him ripping his hair out, one strand at a time. I managed to stop him before he did much damage. Sometimes he would curl into a ball, and hum to himself. Other days, he would simply stare off into space for hours and hours at a stretch.

We'd both lost all hope of ever being normal.

Until that day.

We were sleeping, when I heard the noise of an engine. I immediately woke up, and so did Newt. I looked up to see a giant claw coming towards us from a Berg. The two of us tried to run, but were too late. The claw snapped us both in its metallic jaws, pulling us up. We struggled against the bars, but to no avail. A door opened above us, and the claw pulled us through it.

I was blinded by the lights inside the Berg. Something was injected into my arm, and I could immediately feel my senses slowing down. My breathing slowed too, and I calmed down, despite myself.

I looked to the side, and saw a syringe being retracted from my arm, the injector empty. It retracted into a panel within the claw. The claw opened up, and dropped the two of us in a spotlessly white room. I couldn't bring myself to care what it looked like.

In the centre stood a lady, leaning on a table, a kind expression on her face. I didn't let that fool me. "Chancellor Paige." I spat.

"Please, sit." She told us. We took the chairs in front of us, seeing no other option. I somehow didn't want to waste my energy in trying to hurt her.

"You've given us the Bliss haven't you?" Newt said. So he must've gotten a dose of that stuff too.

The lady nodded. "I needed you to listen." She took a deep breath and continued. "I'm sure Brenda must've told you to trust me. And that is exactly what I need you to do." We didn't respond, and she continued. "I helped your friends, and many other immunes escape WICKED headquarters, to a place called Paradise. Before they went to Paradise, they bombed our Headquarters. However, we shifted to another centre, the few of us who made it out, and we continued our research. We had enough data, and finally, due to the efforts of one of our most talented researchers, had a breakthrough. Finally, we have a cure."

At first I didn't get what she'd said, the news was so unbelievable. Then the full impact of it hit me.

"You can cure us?" I asked, incredulous. She nodded. "Yes, my dear."

Newt and I exchanged glances. I could tell we were both thinking the same thing. Newt looked at Paige. "How can we trust you, after all you've done to us? For all we know, the stuff you give us could kill us right off. We don't wanna become lab rats, mind you."

Paige shook her head sadly. "I didn't think you'd trust us. However, I think you should know what exactly happened." She took a chair across from us. "WICKED was never about killing people left and right. We were always about finding a cure; we worked for a good cause. But Jansen corrupted WICKED. He wanted the cure as fast as possible. He convinced most of the people to follow his ways. But some stayed true to our goal." She drew in a breath. "I want you to know that the plan was only to have the Maze trials. With that, we had gotten the necessary information. We would be able to get a cure using that information, but it would take a long time. However, it was better than killing innocent children. But Jansen disagreed. Which is why Phase two and three were implemented. A few others and I tried to convince them otherwise, but Jansen had everybody brainwashed. My colleagues and I managed to escape, and found a cure."

I stared at her. I didn't believe what she was saying. After all this time, they could cure us?

Newt scoffed. "And you expect us to just go along and take this bloody cure. After all the lies, how do we know this isn't another one of them?"

She sighed, then smiled lightly. "Maybe if you see who discovered the cure, you'll agree." She turned towards the doorway. "You can come in now."

A boy came in shyly. I immediately recognized the short dark hair, and innocent blue eyes. "Aris?" I exclaimed. He smiled sheepishly. "Hey guys."

"What the…" Newt started, then shook his head. Aris answered our un-asked question. "When the Right Arm blew up WICKED headquarters, I managed to escape. Chancellor Paige found me, and brought me here. Turned out I could help out a bit."

Newt snorted. "And you think this shank is gonna make us believe in your bloody cure? That we're just _gonna_ let you inject some nonsense into us? Not on your bloody klunk-faced brains we won't!" Aris flinched, looking genuinely hurt.

"What happens when we get the cure?" I asked Paige. "You will join your friends at Paradise, by going through a Flat Trans. All your friends, with the exception of Teresa are already present." On seeing our shocked expressions, she added, "When we examined the footage of the camera present in the room of the Flat Trans, we saw that she didn't make it out. I'm sorry."

I didn't feel bad. I'd lost so many people over these few months, I didn't have anything left in me. The Bliss probably helped too. "Guys, you have to trust us. We really want to help you." Aris said.

I felt bad for him. He'd left all his friends, to find this cure (if he was telling the truth), and now when he was offering to help us, we were plainly refusing.

Newt's doubts were justified; I had them myself. But something seemed different. All the previous times we'd confronted WICKED, they'd been cruel, cold. They'd wanted something in exchange. This time however, Paige and Aris were simply giving us the cure. We had the Bliss, and were weak from our days of slipping into insanity. If they'd wanted, they could have forced the cure on us. But they didn't. They seemed to genuinely want to help us.

I looked at Newt, and knew he was having the same thoughts. "How do we know this cure will work?" Newt asked. "Because we've already tested it on people having the Flare, and they are now cured." Paige replied. "Like who?" I asked.

"Me." She said simply.

"Why do you even want to help us?" I asked, skeptical. Paige paused for a moment before replying.

"Because we owe you." She said. "We have done horrendous things to you. We put the Flare in you to begin with. It only seems fit that we cure you."

Newt looked at me. "We don't really have much of a choice. We're dying anyway. This can't possibly make it worse. Maybe this is our last hope." I told him. He nodded gravely.

I turned to Paige.

"We're ready."

We were led to a hospital room, and made to lie down. Aris leaned over me, and smiled. "Thank you Kyra. For trusting us." Something jabbed into my arm, and I drifted into unconsciousness.

~.~.~.~.~.

Kyra:

I woke up peacefully. Not screaming or shrieking. I simply woke up. I looked to my side, and saw Newt sitting on a chair, grinning at me. He'd washed up well. His hair had returned to its blond color, and the bruises were gone. He was wearing fresh new pants and a simple white T-shirt. "About time you woke up." He said.

I sat up on my bed. "Are we…" I didn't dare say it. I couldn't bring myself to believe it just yet. Newt helped me off the bed, and I realized that even I was wearing new clothes. Newt's smile grew even bigger. "Kyra, don't you feel it?" He asked me.

I nodded, too elated to say anything. "I don't feel the things inside my head anymore." I said, my voice soft. Newt let out a laugh.

"Kyra, we're cured!"

I joined in with his laughter, and soon the two of us were laughing our heads off. "I can't believe it!" I cried.

"You guys ready?" A soft voice called from behind us. The two of us quieted down, and I turned to see Aris standing in the doorway, looking at his feet. I nodded. "Ready as we'll ever be!" I replied cheerfully. I felt ridiculously happy, and judging by his expression, so did Newt. Aris nodded. "Right then. Come this way."

He led us through a labyrinth of hallways, and finally we ended up back in the white room. Paige was standing there, waiting for us. Behind her, on the wall, a Flat Trans shimmered, ready to take us to our friends. At least, that was what we hoped.

"I hope you trust us now." She said, smiling. "You're friends are right through there."She gestured towards the Flat Trans. I turned to Aris. "Won't you be coming?" I asked. He shook his head.

"I'm not really needed there Kyra. I have a purpose here. And I intend to fulfill that." He said. I smiled and pulled him into a hug. "Thank you." I said, pulling away. He nodded, and looked towards the ground again. Newt and I shook Paige's hand, and stepped in front of the Flat Trans. We glanced at each other, unsure of where our next step would take us.

Then we walked through.

~.~.~.~.

Kyra:

When we came to the other side, I caught my breath. It was the most beautiful place I had ever seen.

Lush green grass covered the ground beneath our feet. Trees filled the forest, which stood at about forty yards away from us. On our other side, dozens of cottages lined the roads, all of different sizes. Several ones had gardens too. Some people were mowing the grass in front of us, and one of them looked up.

"Hey Brenda." I told her. She seemed so surprised, that she over-mowed the place. "You…" She began, but somehow was unable to complete the sentence. "Brenda, you wouldn't have happened…" A boy ran up to us, and stumbled on his words. My heart filled with joy on seeing his face. "Minho!" I cried, a huge grin breaking over my face.

Minho's jaw dropped. He looked so shocked; I thought he would pass out then and there. He looked at me, then at Newt. His face hardened, and he started walking up to us, an unreadable expression on his face. "You…" He started, his expression now readable, as he marched up. He seemed incomprehensibly angry.

"You SON OF A SHANK!" he yelled, punching Newt straight across the jaw. Newt stumbled, and Minho pulled him back, straight into a bear hug. He laughed, and so did Newt. I couldn't help but join. "I missed ya too shank." Newt said, pulling away. Minho pulled me into a hug too, so tight, that I thought he would break my ribs.

"Where had you guys been? I thought you'd be dead! What about the flare thing? How'd you guys get here?" Minho launched into questions. I laughed. "Long story Minho. First, we need to meet everybody!"

Minho slapped his forehead. "Of course! Come with me!" He started leading us towards a cottage. "We all live in this one. Came here about two weeks ago. That's a long story too. For now, you guys need to see someone." He said, his voice mischievous.

I didn't bother asking who. If I knew Minho, he wouldn't be telling us. We entered the cottage, and were greeted by a couple in their forties. They walked up to us, and smiled.

"This is Newt and Kyra." Minho introduced us, telling the couple about how we'd come back 'from the dead'. The lady embraced both of us. "Minho's told us so much about you!" she exclaimed.

The man held out his hand, and we shook it. "I'm Jeremy Waters." He said, "and this is my wife Iona." I smiled at them. Mrs. Waters spoke up. "We had a daughter too. She'd been in the maze. Two months ago, WICKED told us she didn't make it out…" Her voice broke, and my face dropped. "Her name was Alexis." She added.

"I'm sorry. She must've been in the other maze." I said, softly so as to not hurt her feelings. The man put his hands on her shoulders. "Iona, they wouldn't know Alexis."

She nodded. "Of course. My apologies. You would have known her as Lee."

It hit me like an actual force, and I was tossed into silence. "At least, that's what St-" She caught herself. "Thomas. That's what Thomas told us you children called her in the maze." She said. "Please, don't be sorry. We see her in every one of you. Thomas is our nephew. And if you're wondering why we are here, yet his parents arent, you see, unlike my sister and brother-in-law, my husband and I are immune. We welcomed him and all of these children into our house. They are now like our own kids. We may have lost a daughter, but we gained many children. And from now, this is your house. " She didn't give me a chance to argue, and put a smile on her face. I knew she was extremely sad about her daughter's loss, but she wasn't showing it. "Right then." she said, "I'm going to go make some lunch. You two look like you've not eaten in weeks!"

She sounded exactly like a mother would, and I had to smile. She walked off, with Mr. Waters in tow. I turned to Minho. "This is who you wanted us to meet?"

He shook his head. "I did want you to meet these people, but there's someone else. Come this way." He led us to a door in the interiors of the house. He grinned widely, and opened it. What I saw inside, made my heart stop.

Sitting on a couch, sipping a glass of juice, was the last person I'd expected to see here.

Aidan.

I sank to my knees, not being able to believe what I saw. "Hey kid. It's Kyra." Minho said. Aidan's face lit up, and he made his way towards Minho's voice. Tears were running down my face. He reached out, and felt my face, his smile growing wider. "Aidan…" I whispered, then broke into a laugh. I pulled him close, hugging him tighter than I'd ever hugged anyone. I was crying, and for the first time, my tears were ones of joy.

I stayed there for a while, just soaking up my brother's existence. I pulled away, still laughing. "How…?" Newt said from above me. Aidan stood up, and so did I.

"It's a long story." He said. Newt crossed his arms, smiling. "We ain't going anywhere."

Aidan took a deep breath and started. "Gally had aimed his gun at Thomas' heart. Thomas is taller than me, so when I got shot, the bullet hit my collarbone, just above my lung. I passed out. WICKED found me, and fixed me up. The wound wasn't fatal, but it was bad enough to put me into some sort of a coma for two months. I woke up about five days ago, and felt these _things_ moving around in my head. WICKED explained this whole thing to me, about how I'd gotten shot and gone into coma. They gave me some sort of a cure, and the things in my head were gone. Then they sent me through here."

Minho snorted. "You can imagine our surprise when this slinthead walked through the Trans, as large as life."

"But… we saw you…" I said, stuttering to an end. Aidan grinned. "But you didn't check for a pulse."

All of us burst out laughing. I still couldn't believe my brother was alive, even though whatever he said made perfect sense. I suppose after being cured of the Flare, nothing should have surprised me. "Aidan, all this time, I thought you were dead…" I said, hugging him again. He smiled. "Well, long story short… not dead." He echoed the words he'd said to me, right after he'd come out of the maze. I laughed again.

"Hey, where's Tommy?" Newt asked, looking at Minho. Minho smirked. "Thought that might come up. C'mon then. He's upstairs." I stood up, holding Aidan's hand, and started following him, but Minho stopped. "Uh Kyra?" He started, "That shank just woke up from a two-month coma five days ago. Maybe we should let him rest."

I chuckled, and led Aidan back to the sofa. I made him sit, then kissed his cheek. "You stay put turnip. I'll come right back." I said, then started to walk away, when Aidan called out from behind me. "Kyra?"

I turned around. Aidan looked sheepish. "For the record," he said, "I still don't know what the sun looks like."

I laughed and went out of the room, following Minho. This day couldn't possibly have gotten better.

"I'm gonna guess they'd given you guys the same cure they gave him?" Minho looked at us. We nodded in reply.

"I don't suppose you're gonna throw open another door, and Lee's gonna come bounding up, maybe crack one or two jokes?" Newt asked, a little sad. Minho looked down.

"Guys, about Thomas." He said, looking up again, "He's broken. I'm not sure if you've heard-" I cut him off. "Yeah, we've heard about Teresa. Go on."

He nodded. "Her death was the last straw. He won't come out of his room. He wouldn't even look at his uncle and aunt; he insists they call him Thomas by the way. Just, wanted to say that." He shook his head. "He probably thinks even _you're_ dead Newt."

Newt and I exchanged glances. I knew what he was thinking. Thomas probably thought he _himself_ had killed Newt. Minho led us up a series of stairs, and stopped in front of a door. He opened it, and I saw Thomas sitting at a table, with his back to us, sort of slumped over.

"Hey Thomas, some people wanna meet you." Minho said, smiling. "Go away Minho. I don't wanna meet anyone right now." Thomas replied curtly; his voice as if a toad was stuck in his throat.

Minho laughed and shook his head. "No, I think you'll wanna meet these guys." Thomas grunted. "Yeah? Who is it? My fairy God-mother?"

Minho started to say something, but Newt held up his hand for silence. He grinned widely.

"The name's Newt, Greenie."

~.~.~.

**A/N: That's it folks! I don't know how this chapter was, but please review and tell me what you thought of it! I want to thank every single one of you, who has read this. I wanted people to know my story, and you have helped tremendously in that. Thank you for reading! **

**A fellow Glader.**


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